Red Dreams
by Keroanne
Summary: Jin is a normal teen. That is, if a normal teen is a time-traveling kid that's teamed up with a sort-of-goddess and a constantly angry priestess to save the past to save his future. Otherwise, he's perfectly normal. Romance is here, too, but more A/H...
1. Prologue

**A/N- My first ever serious thing in the Okami section... Wow. You must all be amazed and bow before my awesomeness.**

**Disclaimer- Even after all those disclaimers I put on A Random Waka Story, you still don't believe me?!**

I stared across the plains in silence. What was to be done of this? This death, this pain, this hurt...? What could be done? Was there truly anything that could be done right now? It seemed that nothing could be the answer to this problem that we faced.

I knelt down, whispering a soft prayer to myself. "O Amateratsu, please, save our peoples from this horrid destruction. I fear for the fate of mine people. Can't thou help us in our terrible time of need? Hast thou abandoned us forever, leaving us to die in the face of these demons and burn for all eternity?"

None answer reached me.

A demon of human appearance appeared in front of me and I felt my eyes widen at this. It wore a long, black cloak that covered its entire body. It held in one hand a large, bloody, black sword that was perhaps six feet long. He seemed to have the intent of taking away my life, an intent he would most likely go through with.

"Please, demon!" I begged. "Leave us be! We are but lowly humans to thee, so why hast thou taken it upon thine selves to remove us from this world? Do we not have any more right to live than you do, demon? I beg of thee, leave us be!"

"If thou hast wished it, it shall not be done. In the name of the Izanami, I shall let thine life become mine, peasant. If thou hast wished for death, thou shalt be receiving thine wish. There is not to be humans, as our high priests have foretold of long ago. Thou shalt die, human!"

His sword was above his head, and I felt a stab of fear. Was I truly to die? Was mine life nothing? After all I had done in an attempt to please the Gods, they were willing to throw away mine life so quickly? I was nothing...?

I looked to the sky, my heart full of fear and anger. Where was our Goddess? Why did she not come to our aid in our most needed time since Yami? That had been over one-hundred years ago, and it was long since behind them.

"Please, demon!" I begged, suddenly remembering something. "Spare mine daughter at the least! She is but a child, and I do not believe it be right for ye to kill children! Save the children, but take mine life if it pleases thee. Remove this cup from me."

The demon's face became one of a sneer. "I shalt make none promises to ye, fowl human! Thou art pathetic and a swine, destined to die. I be making it shorter is all. These "children" of ye shalt be the next to feel the blade of my sword. Goodbye, infantile human!"

The sword began to come down and a sense of panic came over me. I was to die. It was as simple as that. And my daughter... Yuuki... she was to die as well. I could not stand the thought of her leaving this world at such a young age.

As the sword was at the half-way point, I began praying desperatly to my Goddess in hopes that something might happen. That I might not die in vain and that the children might be saved from the demise that they faced.

I felt an explosion of pain as the sword reached my head and I screamed those things that I was never to say, those things that would have made me die anyhow, the things that were forbidden for anyone to say, the thing that would release a power that none knew besides the Gods.

"Maitsu yo kashimeruta ute!"

The words seemed to make the world stop in the moment that the demon's sword touched my head. It was as though my life were spared for the moment. I saw the great Lady Amateratsu standing, waiting for me with her hand outstretched to me.

"Thine time has come, loyal servant. To the afterlife is your place. Your daughter will be saved as thou hast wished, along with the children of thine village. I shall see to it that thine child is well taken care of, for none of the other people in thine village cried to me in thine time of need. One will come to save thine child in three years, and they shall be my chosen child."

"My Lady, forgive me for thinking that thou wouldst ever leave. I beg thee..." I whispered, kneeling down in front of the beautiful woman. She gave me a soft smile.

"Any mortal would do the same as thee in the position that thou were in."

She then turned from me and I seemed to awaken from mine vision to face the horrible fate of death. I seemed to realize that death wasn't as horrid as I had thought but moments before. It was just another challenge for me to face.

I laughed.

It was over within a second and I was dead.

And I laughed.

In the dreams of red I sing of blood

That drips from the sky...

It will one day stop raining

But for now take shelter.

Take shelter and love them.

**A/N- What do you think? Should I write something really really long, or leave it as a one-shot? Please R&R, no flames!**


	2. Welcome To My Life

**A/N- Yo, time to keep going because I'm really bored. By the way, not everyone is going to talk like they did in the first chapter. Thanks for the review, Shiroi-Okami-chan!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Okami or Larka.  
**

I quickly sat up, blinking. The students around me started giggling and I felt my face turn bright red. I'd done it again. I had fallen asleep in class again... this was the third time this month now! Why did I keep doing this? I blinked again as I noticed that someone was standing above me.

My teacher glared down at me. "Good morning, Mr. Sakurada." The students around me began giggling again.

"Ah... g-good morning, Mr. Jintayo..." I managed to force out. I'm easily intimidated by my teachers, especially ones that are larger than me and most other kids, like Mr. Jintayo was. He was a large, large man who could make even the bravest of hearts tremble.

"May I talk to you for a moment, out in the hall?" He asked, gesturing for me to follow him as he left the room. I followed him out dumbly, my face still afire.

Why me? Why did I always have to do such stupid things? It wasn't as though this happened to me all the time... in general, I was an okay student. But this year... the first year of high school... I started doing worse and worse. I wasn't exactly sure as to why, though.

We were only two weeks into the school and I was already failing three classes. I also had fallen asleep three times, as I had mentioned before. I guess that the number three just doesn't like me too much. I wish it did, though.

"Mr. Sakurada," Mr. Jintayo murmured, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Y-yes?" I mumbled, nervously playing with the bottom of my shirt.

"Is there anything going on at home?" He asked bluntly. I quickly shook my head, then hesitated.

My mom... she had died at the beginning of the summer. Even though it caused me a great deal of grief to think about her right now, I still couldn't wonder if that was the cause of my poor grades and oversleeping. I hoped that this was the case, anyhow. I would rather not have any mental problems and such.

"Mr. Jintayo..." I said slowly. "Early this summer... the day that summer vacation started... my mother became an angel, I suppose." I said the last part quickly, knowing it would hurt much less if I said it quickly.

Mr. Jintayo's eyes softened on me. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Sakurada. Is there anything I can do for now to help?"

I quickly shook my head. "I don't want any special treatment."

"Are you sure?" he asked again and I shook my head again. "All right, then. Let's get back to class."

I nodded, feeling slightly stupid. Why didn't I ask for no homework or something? Jeez, I could be such an idiot sometimes! No homework would be such heaven... just the thought brought shivers of happiness up and down my spine.

I glanced around the class when I walked back in and noticed that some of the kids in my class had switched spots. One of them had taken mine. Wonderful.

"All right, kids," Mr. Jintayo said, his voice once again commanding everyone in the room's attention. "Get into your own spots and I don't want to see you do that again. Let's get back to mathematics. Now, when you have a variable with-"

The bell cut him off.

"Time already?" he murmured, glancing at the clock. "All right, then... get yourselves to Physical Education."

I sighed and left the room quickly, being that I was standing next to the door. Gym. Wasn't that just wonderful as well? Just to let you know, I'm horrible at any kind of sport. I can barely kick a ball. I know that I'm pathetic, but I don't really care.

"Hey, Jin!" I blinked and turned around. Oh. It was Miuri. She's my best friend.

"What happened? You keep falling asleep. I thought that Mr. Jintayo was going to blow up and chop off your head!" She exclaimed, absently grabbing my hand.

A lot of people thought we were going out, but Miuri's just a touchy person. I've long since given up asking her to let go of my hand. And, by the way, I do not like her more than a friend and she doesn't like me more than a friend. I just thought I'd get that out real quick.

"I dunno," I mumbled, looking up at the ceiling.

"Okay, whatever! Let's hurry to the locker rooms so we can get changed and fun in P. E.!" I sighed and nodded as she pulled me along.

She might be a good friend and all, but she's a little too animated and optimistic. It actually scares me sometimes. I have never seen this girl frown. She has some serious issues, I swear. Not to mention the fact that she's a bit of a jabber-mouth.

"So, while you were sleeping, did you have any dreams?" She asked, skipping slightly.

I frowned. "I think that I might have, but I couldn't really remember. If I _did _have a dream, then I think I died."

"Oh, well that's not good," She said blankly. Even so, she didn't stop smiling. How do you smile while saying that?! I don't understand this girl sometimes... she's so weird. I mean, I'm Miuri's best friend and I think so. That's a little sad.

"Yeah..." I mumbled as I walked into the locker room.

As I began to get changed, I tried to remember my dream. I could remember that everything had ended in black and red. What had happened before that, though? I think there was someone in my dream... a woman, perhaps?

I sighed and shook my head. I just couldn't remember. I should have thought about this _before _I forgot. But then again, a couple of things had happened...

I walked out to the gym and I absently flicked my bangs out of my eyes. My hair was starting to get long again. Ugh. Another thing to had to my "wonderful" list. Why did this list seem to be getting longer and longer by the moment? Why couldn't it just stay short?

"Sakurada!" A girl cried, waving to me. "Hello!" I flushed slightly and gave a small wave.

Girls sometimes did that. I don't want to sound like I think that I'm all that, but I'm kind of good-looking. Because of this, and the fact that I"m single, girls sometimes go after me. It's slightly frightening. Why you may ask?

Another problem with girls and me is the fact that I'm terrified of them. The only girls that I'm okay with is my little sister, my big sister, and Miuri. Otherwise, I'm completely lost on every little thing. I wish it wasn't like that, but it's true.

"All right, everyone!" Coach Yurim exclaimed. "Gather around and let's get ready to do soccer!"

I sighed. Gym was _so _not one of my strong points. I may be slightly good-looking, but I was weak. I could barely do five push-ups, let alone be good at soccer. Once I was foolish enough to try out for soccer, but I easily failed. Ever since then, I haven't even tried.

Miuri, however, is another story. She got onto the soccer team after destroying everyone else. At first she was just on the girl's team. Then she was so great that she got onto the boy's team. After that, she got onto the second year's girl team. Now she's being transferred to the second year's boy team.

Yeah, Mirui loves soccer way too much in my opinion.

"Mr. Sakurada, why aren't you warming up?" Coach Yurim asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I flushed slightly at this.

"I-I'm sorry..." I mumbled and began streetching. Coach Yurim nodded his approval and walked away.

For some reason, the stretching and such seemed to be easier than usual. I ran faster and my breath didn't feel as heavy. It felt more fun to do all this than it did yesterday. However, I couldn't help but wonder what had made me so much better all of the sudden.

"Wow!" Miuri exclaimed as we began walking down the hall to the field. "You did really good, Jin! Have you been practicing?"

I shook my head. "No. I was surprised, too." At this, she merely flashed a grin at me before skipping ahead to talk to some friends of hers. I hated it when she did that. It made me feel so left out. I wished that she would just hang out with me sometimes. I know that's selfish, but...

To be honest, I haven't got too many friends. There's Miuri and Riku, and that's pretty much it.

Riku is in another class, but he's constantly skipping out so he can see Miuri. That's the problem with having all three of us hang out together. Riku has a _**HUGE **_crush on Miuri. It makes things a little bit awkward for me when he's drooling all over her.

I blinked in the sudden light as I exited the building. It was so hot outside... I don't really mind the heat, but sometimes it's maddening.

"All right kids, pick your teams. Miuri, Lee, you'll be in field one. Hurry and pick your teams." Miuri beamed at this. She was team captain, _again_.

My eyes rolled over to Lee. He had transferred here from China and had made the boy's soccer team. He had a cruel look about him that seemed to frighten most people away. For some reason, to me, it felt as though his glare usually fell on me. Maybe it was just me.

I blinked as he started glaring at me. Jeez, maybe he _did _hate me more than the other kids at this school. I quickly averted my eyes from his glare.

"I pick Jin!" Miuri exclaimed. Even though I was a horrible, player, she always picked me first because we were best friends. My face, as usual, turned bright red at this. Sometimes I wish that she wouldn't choose me first, though.

"I pick Aoi," Lee said flatly and so it went on. Miuri then Lee, Miuri then Lee, Miuri then Lee...

After five minutes or so, all the players were picked and so were their positions. I was, as usual, goalie, which meant I didn't do anything because Miuri constantly kept the ball near the other goal, far away from me.

While I stood in front of the goal, bored, I allowed my mind to wander. What had that dream been about? I still couldn't remember. Why couldn't I remember? It seemed slightly unfair for some odd reason.

I sighed and kicked the grass. Why was I worrying so much about a stupid dream, anyway? It was just a dream. Nothing more.

"It was not just a dream," A voice said flatly. I blinked and turned around to see a girl.

Her hair was of a golden color which was rather uncommon in Japan. Her eyes were even stranger, however, in the way that they were a violet-blue color. It was obvious that she did not go to this school for she was wearing a T-shirt with a skull on it and jeans. She also seemed to be about fourteen, just a year younger than I.

The weirdest thing about her: the fact that she had wolf ears. That's right. _Wolf _ears. Just sitting there, on top of her head. For some reason, at the moment, I didn't make too much of it. It was just something that was there. Don't ask why I took it so lightly, but I did.

As she took a step closer, I noticed the fact that she had blue streaks in her hair. "It was not just a dream, Jin," she repeated. "Everything happens for a reason."

"Huh?" I answered blankly. What was this girl talking about?

She gave a slight smile before saying, "Jin, the ball's coming this way." After saying that, she disappeared. I mean it. She just vanished in front of my face.

Where she stood the ball suddenly was. It seemed to be going very fast, then stopped. It was as though time itself had stopped. I glanced over at the other players and my jaw dropped. I felt shock come over bewilderment.

"As though this day wasn't weird enough," I said, still shocked. Just as the ball was, they were frozen in place. A bird that had been flying overhead was stuck in the middle of the sky. Nothing whatsoever was moving. What was going on?

Even though I wanted to do nothing more than punch Lee in the face for no reason, I chose to kick the ball instead. The instant that my foot made impact, time seemed to start working as it was supposed to again. Even so, the other players stopped short. Once again, my mouth dropped.

The ball soared between a couple of players, past the defenders on the other team, and past the goalie into the goal.

Silence reined.

No one cheered. No one moved. Even when the bell rang, no one spoke.

I could tell what was going through their minds by the expression on their faces. _Jin? Jin Sakurada just did that? What other hidden talents might he have? _And, for once, Miuri was silent.

* * *

"Then he kicked it and it went all the way across the field and into the other goal!" Miuri exclaimed. "I was shocked because I thought _I _was the best player in our grade, but I guess I was wrong! It was totally amazing!"

"Wow, Jin," Riku said, sounding slightly impressed and slightly amused. "I thought that you were just some little wimpy kid."

I nodded dumbly. My thoughts were elsewhere. My mind kept returning to that wolf-girl in the soccer field. Who and what was she? What did she mean by _It wasn't just a dream_? How the heck did she manage to do that vanishing act with me standing right there?!

"Hello? Jin? Anyone home?" Riku asked, waving his hand in front of my face. I blinked.

"Oh, uh, sorry," I mumbled. "What is it?"

"You look sick," Miuri said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Is everything okay? Want my mom to give you a ride home?"

At the word _mom_, I felt even sicker. I missed my own mother. I also wanted to explain everything to them. But when I asked Miuri about the girl on the soccer field, she said that she didn't see anyone. She thought I was talking to myself.

"N-no," I managed weakly. "I'm okay; don't worry about it."

She nodded but didn't seem very convinced by it. I wasn't sure whether this was a good idea or not to refuse this offer. Should I just let her take me home? No... no.

"Don't worry about it, Miuri!" Riku exclaimed. "I'll protect him from any craziness that he might be suffering from!"

I told Riku what had happened, too. Stupid me.

"Thanks, Riku!" She cried, giving him a quick hug then stepping away, face red. His face was slightly red as well, but had a pleased look about it as well. As you can see, Miuri also has a crush on Riku. It bothers me sometimes that I'm here, interfering with their feelings and such. It's kind of my fault that they're still just friends.

"I rode my bike over here." Riku was saying. "So you'll just have to run to keep up! Just kidding, don't worry; I'll walk it."

I nodded absently. Riku was a simple kind of person, very predictable. His favorite food was either pancakes or strawberries. He was almost as in love with his bike as he was with Miuri. The only thing that ever really bothered me about him was how sarcastic he was sometimes. It was so annoying.

"Bye, you guys. See ya tomorrow!" Miuri gave me a quick wave and I waved back. Riku grinned and gave her a quick hug before following me. Her face was bright red as I glanced back and she looked like she was about to faint.

"You have her wrapped around your pinkie," I noted.

"Well, duh! How can you not resist my devilish charms?!"

I sighed, but did not answer. I didn't want to be rude or anything, but I didn't really think that he had devilish charms. Annoying charms, maybe, but not devilish. I know that I didn't either. I might have charm in being quiet and such, but that's pretty much it.

A fancy car pulled up next to us, and I blinked. It was Lee.

"The sun will sink, Jin," He said simply and rolled up his window, then pulled away.

"What the heck?" Riku said.

"What the crap does he mean by that?" I said blankly. Riku shrugged.

"Maybe he means your awesome new soccer skills. Who knows? Those crazy Chinese aren't like anyone that I know." I stared at him and sighed.

"Don't be racist."

"I don't even like racing."

"Shut up, Ukir."

"Why don't you shut up, Nij?"

Ukir and Nij are our nicknames for each other. It's our names backwards. Smart, no?

For the rest of the time that we walked home, Riku blabbed on about girls and bikes and girls and his new cell phone and girls and how his family is and girls and school and girls and a new video game that he got and girls and did I mention girls?

The moment that I got into my own yard, he drove his bike away, shouting a good-bye over his shoulder. I sighed and walked into my house. I was immediately attacked by my little sister, Ai, who was wanting to know about everything.

"Hiya, Jin! How's everything going? Do you have lots of homework? Are you tired? How is Miuri? How is Riku? Did you stink in gym? Did you fall asleep again? Is your favorite red, or something else? Am I good at guessing? Who's your favorite teacher? Was lunch good today? Did you pray before you ate?"

Ai has some serious issues when it comes to my life. She loves me to pieces, but can get kind of annoying. And when I say kind of, I mean _**REALLY **_annoying. She won't leave me alone or anything. It bothers me to my death and she won't quit it!

Ai is the youngest in my family, being just eleven years old. Next up is me, and I'm fifteen. Then comes my next eldest sister, Yume. She's in her second year of high school, being just a year and a half older than me. Then, lastly, comes my big brother, Michiru. He's attending a college in Tokyo for literature and stuff. He's only in his first year of it, though.

"Welcome home, little brother." Yume murmured from a book that she was reading. Yume is okay as an older sister, but sometimes she can be a real brat. She's usually in charge now because our mom died and Dad is constantly at work. Every time I get home, I am reminded of this.

"Hey, Jin! Why aren't you saying anything? Why do you look so green? Are you sick? Do you want to go to bed? Is-"

"Yes, I'd like to go to bed," I murmured, walking up to my room and shutting the door quickly behind myself. I then locked it. I didn't want Ai pestering me with any more questions. It was so annoying. Yes, I know I've said that before, but it's true.

I got out of my school uniform and sighed. It felt so hot. Why did it feel so hot? I quickly slipped on my pajama pants, and lied down on the bed. I felt so hot. It was like somebody had stuck me in the oven or something.

I closed my eyes, not even bothering to pull my blankets over me. It felt hot and I... was so... tired...

* * *

_"Jin."_

_The name seemed so loud. Why couldn't the person just leave me alone?_

_"Jin."_

_All right... I would open my eyes..._

_A woman of great beauty stood in front of me. She had golden eyes, like those of a wolf. Her hair was long, white and went all the way down to her waist. She had some sorts of markings upon her face, arms, and entire body. She seemed calm, but firm at the same time.  
_

_My jaw dropped._

_"I am the goddess Amaterasu."_

_That didn't really surprise me too much. She was very beautiful with a powerful aura about her that suggested she was someone very powerful. Obviously._

_"Jin, ye have been calmed to be mine servant. To save the past is to save the future. Ye must do so."_

_"Huh?" I finally said blankly._

_"Look for mine daughter and the priestess. These, along with others, shall be thine holy guidance."_

_"Wait-"_

_"I shalt come to thee in dreams to give thee guidance. Feel at ease."_

_"Ama-"_

_It went black and red._

* * *

I could smell... fresh air. How odd. I was unused to fresh air. Usually it was more... oily. I wondered what the difference was.

I was obviously outside. The air was colder than regular temperature, indicating that it was night. Wait a minute. What was I doing outside? Shouldn't I be asleep in my bed? I was on the ground. I shouldn't be on the ground. What was I doing on the freaking ground?!

"Oh, wake up!" It was that girl... her voice. "I'm sick of waiting for you! Get the freaking heck up, you dork!"

I suddenly sat up, my eyes wide. I seemed to be in the middle of some sort of field.

"What the crap!?" I shouted. "Where the heck am I!?"

**A/N- I hope you peoples enjoyed that. R&R, no flames, but I'll accept people giving me advice on my stories.**

**EDIT: I have edited the story, making it better. Hence, the giant EDIT at the beginning of this paragraph. Please tell me if you find any more errors.  
**


	3. Where In Heck Am I!

**A/N- Thanks for the review, Godess-of-Weirdos.**

**Disclaimer- This stupid disclaimer sucks.**

"Oh, be quiet." The girl said in annoyance.

"Why should I be?! I'm talking to--what the freaking crap?!" I exclaimed upon noticing something.

This girl, whoever, she was, had wolf ears. I'm serious! They were little wolf ears on the top of her freaking head! As I took a closer look, she had a wolf tail, too. I have _never ever _seen anyone with friggen wolf ears or a friggen wolf tail!

"What the freak is going on around here?!" I shouted, pulling at my hair.

"If you would shut up for a second, I could tell you!" I didn't really listen to her.

"Where is this place?! I want to go home! This sucks! What's going on around here?! Have I finally gone insane?! I think I actually might h-"

"Shut up, you dork!" The girl shouted in my face. "If you can do that, maybe I can tell you what the freaking heck is going on if you shut the heck up, dork wad! I am so sick of your whining, so just shut up so I can explain what's going on! Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, **_shut up_**!"

I shut up.

"All right..." The girl sighed, seeming to calm down. "First of all, my name is Larka and I'm the Goddess of the Moon."

I stared blankly at her.

"My mother is the Sun Goddess Amaterasu," She continued. "My father is... well... it's hard to explain. Oh, sit down, this is bound to be a long story."

"This is stupid..." I muttered, sitting down.

"Shut up!" Larka quickly got control of herself again. "Anyway, about fifty years ago, my mother defeated an evil creature that was called Yami. After that, she left to go to the Celestial Plains. A few things surprised her, though..."

"However..." She gave a little cough, cheeks turning slightly red. "She and a man named Waka... my father... well, she got a little surprise. Me."

"Ah." I said stupidly.

"About three and a half years ago, some things happened, and some demons got loose into the human world from the demon world. My mother was certain that the God of Time would help us, and she seems to be fairly convinced that you're him."

"Wha?" I said, feeling as blank and not understanding as before.

"You're a **_GOD_**, stupid!" Larka shouted in my face.

"Wha?" I repeated. "No I'm not..."

"Non!" She continued to shout. "Stupide!"

"Do you speak French?" I'm still blank.

"Oui."

"Please speak Japanese. I don't know very much French."

"Non."

"Fine, will you just continue, then?"

"Oui." She answered. "Now, I also have to tell you that you're in the past about two-thousand-years or so."

"Huh?"

"You're in the past." Larka repeated. Everything finally clicked.

"Wait, what!? I'm in the past?! You think I'm a friggen **_GOD_**?! This is insanity! Can I just go home and pretend this never happened?!"

"If you want the world to be destroyed. Otherwise, sure, be my guest." She shrugged.

"What do you mean?" I asked, frowning.

"Demons." She said flatly. "If you don't save your past, Jin, then you won't be able to save your future."

"All right. Let's pretend I accept all of this," I said causiously. "What would I have to do?"

"First of all, find the priestess who is so pure that she can destroy demons with a simple touch of her finger." Larka said flatly. "Next, you and her must go around all of Nippon, searching for the Demon King. Once you find him, you must banish him to his Dark Lair, sealing him there forever."

"Wow, as if going through peuberty wasn't hard enough, ya gotta put all this on my shoulders." I muttered.

"I don't feel too bad," she answered. I rolled my eyes, pouting slightly. Larka folded her arms, snorting slightly before continuing.

"Now, another thing. I'm going to have to teach you how to defend yourself. I'll teach you martial arts and how to use a sword. Then you shall be ready for any fight that you might come to. Most importantly, I think, will be the martial arts."

"Ya know, I never was interested in karate." I mused.

"Hi, Larka." A boy murmured.

"Gah!" I shouted. "Where the heck did you come from?!"

"Hel-"

"This is Dravis." Larka quickly interrupted. "He's a demon, but a good one... sort of... but he's got a dirty mouth."

I examined him. His hair was slightly long and covered half of his face. He wore all black, had black hair, and I had a good guess that he was an emo. Especially because he had absolutely no expression upon his face. His arms were folded.

"You're short." I noted.

He hit me on the back of the head, then flipped me off.

"What the heck?!" I growled. "I can see why you two are friends!"

Larka hit me on the back of my head. "Yeah, yeah. Shut up, you dork. And we aren't friends, he's my boyfriend!"

"That explains even more!" I exclaimed.

"So this is the God of Time, huh? For some reason, I really don't believe it." Dravis muttered, leaning his weight over to his left side.

"Yeah, I didn't think so, either." Larka shrugged. "I always thought that the God of Time would be more... well, less wimpy, I suppose."

"I'm right here, ya know!" I shouted.

"Sure, sure." Larka waved me off. "Now, Dravis, I gotta teach this_** dork **_how to beat other people's butts."

"Okay." He shrugged. "I'll just sit here and-"

"Dravis!" Another person came... but I suppose he wasn't really a person. He was a wolf.

"Oh great." Sarcasm dripped off his voice. "You found me, Uncle Rosco."

The wolf was surrounded by a curious, brown light and I gave a little yelp as the light faded away. Where the wolf had been standing before, there was a man now.

The man, Rosco, had brownish, shaggy hair and bright blue eyes. He had about ten earrings in his ears total, and a large meadallion around his neck that had a ruby in the middle of it. All in all, he was rather handsome. N-not that I'm gay or anything! It's just... oh, never mind!

"I'm so happy that I found you, little Dravis! Everyone's been so scared back at home!" He pouted, hugging the teen tightly.

"Leggo, idiot." Dravis hit the man on the back of the head.

"Ow! Dravy!" Rosco whined. "That hurted! C'mon, we gots to get home!"

"Why?" Dravis asked flatly.

"Because! Everyone missed you! Oh, and hi Larka, hi kid-that-hi-don't-know!" Rosco gave a little wave, grinning broadly.

Okay, so I might not be gay, but I think this guy just might be. Either that, or he's just a freak of nature. I don't mind homos, but it makes me feel a bit odd when I'm around them. Especially when I'm around guys.

"All right, just get off me, you idiot." Dravis growled. "See ya later, Larka."

"Oh, um, see ya later, Drav." Larka said, sounding slightly confused.

"Good bye, emo-short-person." I said, frowning slightly. For some reason, I did_ not _like this person. He was just dang annoying for some freaking reason.

"Don't be mean to Dravis, you big dork!" Larka growled, punching me in the arm.

"Ow!" I cried.

"So, as I was saying-" She began, but the moment that she began, I fell over, having fainted.

* * *

I opened my eyes and blinked. Well, I certainly wasn't with Larka anymore, and nor was I at home. It appeared to be some sort of glade... I was surrounded by trees, and I lay upon green grass. Just in front of my toes, there was a small, peaceful pond.

I sat up and glanced around. There was that woman... Amaterasu. She was sitting upon a rock, just looking beautiful. She seemed to finally notice me.

"Ah." She said softly. "Jin."

"Amaterasu." I answered, using the same soft tone she had.

"Welcome... Jin. I have chosen to speak to you concerning... some things. Such as your past. Who you truly are."

"I know who I am." I answered, frustrated by everything that was going on. "I'm Jin Sakurada. That's who I am. I'm not the God of Time. I'm not some person who's gonna save the world. I'm just a fifteen-year-old Japanese boy who wants to live out a normal life."

"I know all this is difficult for you to accept, Jin, but you must." She walked over to me and gently touched my shoulder. "Allow me to show you what we chose all those years ago, when you were wondering what the purpose of your life was."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Many years ago," she began, "You were a great and powerful god. A friend of mine. You were the Master of Time, and because of this, you could do almost anything you wanted. You went from the beginning of time to the very end. You loved it very much. However..."

Amaterasu hesitated for a moment, then continued. "However, it wasn't enough. You wanted to have a true purpose as a being. You wished to be... not powerful for a time. So you begged me to make you a regular human for a time. You sent yourself to a time of peace and mae yourself into a child. You destroyed all of your memories."

"Wow." I said blankly after a moment. "That's not a story you hear every day."

Her face turned slightly pink. "There is one more thing, though. When you were still in your most powerful state,you... how should I put this... fell in love?"

My face turned bright red. "L-l-l-l-love?! Me?!"

"Yes," she murmured, "A very beautiful girl, she was."

I gave a little sigh of relief at this. "Well, at least I wasn't gay."

"This girl," she continued, "is in trouble currently You must save her. She will be a great key to your defeating of the Demon King."

"How nice." I said, feeling a little weird.

"Tell my daughter what I have told you." Amaterasu said softly. "Now, awaken, God of Time."

"Wait-" I began. Whoops, too late. I'm sort-of waking up...

* * *

I sat up, my eyes wide. What the freaking crap?! I had been having some messed up dreams lately.

"Oh, good, you're awake." Larka said, barely even glancing at me.

"Amaterasu..." I said blankly, staring at Larka.

"What?" She demanded.

"You... two have the same nose." I answered.

Larka stared back at me. "Wha?"

"Hey, when can we start saving the world so I can go home?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Oh." She said, sounding more confused than ever. "Do you believe that you're the God of Time, then?"

I laughed. "Are you kidding me?! Heck no! I just want to do this stupid thing already so that I might be able to go home. So, where do we go first?"

"Uh..." Was her answer.

* * *

This place used to be a beautiful forest." Larka murmured, peeking over the large rock we were hiding behind. "Now look at it."

From where we peeked over the rock, I was in shock. There were disguisting creatures everywhere. There was only one house, and many of the demon-things were standing around it, drinking sake. A few were beating each other up. The ground was brown and the entire area was desolate.

"Sick." I agreed. "Can I _not _save the world and just go home instead?"

"Non." She answered.

"Crap." Was all I mumbled. "Fine... what's the battle plan, then?"

"Freeze time like you did on the soccer field yesterday." She murmured. "That way, I can go in, save the human kids, and beat it."

"Really? It was yesterday? Huh. It feels like a lot longer. Oh, and by the way... how in the freaking heck do I freeze time?!"

"Shh, you dork!" Larka hissed. "You're so lucky that all of those demons are half-drunk!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" I mumbled. "Just tell me how!"

Larka punched me. "Ow!" I shouted. The demons heard me. Crap.

"You dork!" Larka shouted in my face.

"This is your fault!" I answered, shouting back.

"My fault?!" She screeched. "You're the one that was being a freaking jerk, you dork-wad!"

"Whatever-" I began, but a large sword crashing between out noses. I gave a little squeak and took a step back, eyes wide.

"That nearly cut off my nose!" I managed.

"Shut up and get out of the way!" Larka shouted, pushing me back. I blinked in shock as she closed her eyes. She lit up until I could no longer see her. When I could, she was... different.

Larka had transformed into a large wolf. She was white with a whole bunch of tattoos and designs on her. For the first time, I noticed that she had some earrings in her wolf ears. She gave me a little grin upon noticing my shock. However, as soon as it came, it disappeared.

She jumped upon the closest demon to her, ripping at its neck with her powerful jaws. The demon gave a glass-shattering shriek as the flesh and blood spattered everywhere. It clawed blindly at the sky, before finally falling down, dead. Larka jumped off it, landing lightly next to me.

"Remind me not to get you pissed." I said in disgust, watching blood drip off her muzzle. She gave me another wolfish grin.

"Bonjour!" Someone exclaimed. "Larka!"

A man jumped down from who knows where and my jaw dropped. I tried my best to stiffle a laugh the moment I saw his clothes. They looked like clown clothes with large buttons, a pink shirt... another odd thing was that he looked a heck of a lot like Larka.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked blankly.

"Bonjour, petite." The man said, giving a quick bow. "My name is Waka."

"Did he just call me small?" I asked no one blankly. "And... Waka? His name is... Waka?"

"Oui." He answered, taking out a sword. "And I believe that those demons are going to kill you and my daughter if I do not help."

"This guy is Larka's dad?!" I was even more stunned. Larka's dad was a dork?! I had expected someone... toucher, I suppose? Maybe more muscular. But this guy... well... he was such a dork. I supposed that this was where Larka got the term 'dork.'

Larka growled something at me and tossed her head in the direction of the house. I took that to mean I was supposed to save whoever happened to be in there. Great. Lovely. Wonderful. I needed to speak my mind.

"Wonderful..." I murmured, running through the creatures to the house.

A demon stepped in front of me and I quickly put the brakes on. It was huge and black. It was also a wolf with giant wings. Foam fell from its yellow fangs and its eyes were blood red. It's claws dug into the dirt eagerly, as though pretending that the dirt was my flesh.

"Oh, snap." I said, my jaw dropping.

The wolf-demon-bird laughed at me. "Prepare to die, weak mortal!" It growled, then leapt at me.

"Stop!" I exclaimed, closing my eyes and shielding my face with my arms, preparing for intense pain. However, none came.

I slowly opened one eyes. The wolf-demon-bird-thing was frozen just inches in front of my face. I looked around slowly and sighed slowly. Every other person or demon or wolf was frozen besides me. I stepped around the demon-thing and examined Larka, who was just a few feet away. I poked her wondering what would happen.

She finished what she was doing, which happened to be swiping at the demon in front of her, then looked about in confusion. UPon seeing me, she grinned her wolfish grin and nodded toward the frozen Waka. I nodded as well and walked over to him.

I poked the frozen man who finished taking a live at a couple of demons, then finally noticed that they hadn't reacted. He glanced at me, and his eyes widened. **(A/N- Does Waka even have any eyes??)**

"Can you possibly be the God of Time?" He asked, eyes still wide.

"No!" I snapped. "Now just go and kill these freaking demons so that I can go home!"

"Oui, petite," Waka murmured, respect as thick as his French accent.

"I'm not little!" I snapped again, then turned around to the house and stormed inside. My jaw dropped.

There were three people inside, all fourteen or under, but I paid attention to only one. It was the girl in the middle who appeared to be fourteen, perhaps a bit younger or maybe bit older.

Well... she was hot! Her hair was long, black and went down to her waist. Her eyes were large and golden colored with thick eyelashes. She was wearing traditional Japanese clothing that was red and only went down to her knees. She had a big chest for someone her age, too...

Whoa, whoa... get those thoughts outta my mind. I'd best just touch those kids and get the heck out of here, not thinking of that hot-

Freak! I'm doing it again! I quickly walked over to them and poked each of them. They all blinked. Crap. How was I supposed to explain this...?

"God of Time." The eldest girl murmured, bowing her head.

"I'm not the friggen God of Time!" I hissed. "Now, c'mon, we're getting you out of here!"

"Oui." Waka murmured.

"Whoa!" I nearly shouted. "Where the heck did you come from?!"

"The sky." He answered and picked up the youngest of the children, who appeared to be about five or six. "Now, hurry up. I don't like the smell of demons."

I helped the two girls up. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Jin Sakurada."

The older girl nodded. "I'm Yuuki and this is Aoi. Nice to meet you."

Oh great. Her voice was as amazing as her body was. Crap! Stupid perverted thoughts!

"Uh..." Was all I said, feeling my face begin to grow bright red.

Larka was standing outside, wiping the red blood from her lips. She was human again, as it appeared. She grinned that same wolfish grin that she had before, then licked the blood that was dripping down her chin. I winced.

"Hey, who's that chi-" Larka began, but Yuuki cut her off.

"Hello, Moon Goddess." She murmured, giving a little bow. Larka snorted a laugh.

"Dork."

The girl's eyes narrowed and she frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You're a dork." Larka said in a matter-of-fact tone. Waka sighed.

"Can we leave, _then _be rude to one another?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Larka flipped her hair at him. Waka rolled his eyes and Yuuki narrowed her eyes again, glaring a the Moon Goddess.

I had a bad feeling about this.

"Hey, stop staring at that dork, other dork!" Larka shouted in my face.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "I wasn't staring at her."

"Yeah, yeah!" She snorted. "Make time start again."

"That sounds so weird!" I muttered. "And also, I don't even know how to use my freaking powers let alone believe in them."

"Blah blah blah!" Larka said snottily. "Just say start or something!"

"Someone's a bit cranky..." Waka murmured, leaning against a tree and putting the small child down now that they were at least three-hundred-yards or so away from the place where all the demons were still frozen.

"What-" She began, but I cut her off.

"Okay, whatever! Time start!" I totally didn't believe it would work. After all, what were the chances that I was a god? I blinked as a breeze touched my cheek. And then... the terrible screeching of the mutilated and dying demons. I winced.

"It worked..." I whispered. "No way..."

"I'm tired!" Larka shouted. "So shut up, you dork!"

I had learned by this point that it was better to just agree and do whatever she wanted. So, I sat down and leaned against a tree. Yuuki sat down next to me.

"Um..." She said softly. and her hand was close to my own. "Jin... right?"

"Um... yeah..." I mumbled, feeling my face turn red. Crap! Why did she have to be so freaking hot?!

"Get those dirty thougts out of your mind," Waka said, "Jin." Larka snorted a laugh.

"Shut up!" I growled, feeling my face turn even redder.

"I just wanted to let you know..." Yuuki continued, as though she had not heard them. "That I don't want you to be more than a friend, and if you try to do anything to me, I'll use my priestess powers to kick your butt all the way to the west side of the world."

I felt my face, if possible, turn even redder. It wasn't my fault that I had sick thoughts! I tried to control it, but... stupid freaking hormones!

"I'm not gonna do anything..." I mumbled.

"You better not." Yuuki snorted. "I hate it when boys are perverted! So back off, buddy!"

Something clicked.

"Wait, you're a priestess!" I exclaimed.

"Duh!" She said, rolling her eyes. "What else would I be? Some whiney, wimpy, innocent girl?!"

"Um..." I said, shocked. _Yuuki _was the priestess?! She could destroy a demon with a single touch?! This was... gah! Why did I have to get mixed up with so much crap!?

"Shut up, you two dorks!" Larka snapped. "I'm trying to get some freaking sleep!"

"Who does she think she is?" Yuuki hissed under her breath.

"A goddess." I answered.

"I said shut up and let me go to sleep!"

* * *

The Demon King stroked his chin, glancing around at his large, black throne room. The demons that were guarding him stood close to him, grinding their teeth and awaiting a fight that was not to come. Not yet, anyhow.

"I'm going to the human world again." The Demon King announced softly. His guards grunted, unsurprised.

"While I am there, I think that I'm going to pick up and old, dear friend." His guards seemed slightly surprised now and they gave him some questioning looks. After all, who would be in the human world that the Demon King could use? So he smiled.

"I'm certain that you remember my dear friend, Riku. I showed you him in a dream, yes?" The guards nodded.

"That demon-human?" One of them said, struggling to remember the far-off memory.

"Yes." The Demon King murmured. "Years and years ago, before he offered to spy on the God of Time, he was my best friend and general. Once he is back, I will finally be able to have my full powers being that he took some of them to protect himself from anyone realizing what he truly was."

"But... my Lord..." One of the guards said, struggling with the idea. "What will happen to the current general?"

"He will die." The Demon King said flatly. "I fare him well."

The guards nodded, looking slightly solemn. He flicked his fingers towards the door, indicating that they should go to see the general at that moment. They nodded and left.

The Demon King smirked as he opened the portal to the human world. There was no point for the God of Time to hide any longer. After all, if Riku didn't kill him first, the Demon King would do it himself, no matter what it took.

Jin Sakurada would die.

**A/N- Please, R&R! No flames! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!**


	4. About Him

**A/N-I know that people are reading this. Why they chose not to review it, I'll never know. A few important notes before we begin this chapter:**

**1. In Japan, High School goes from 10th grade to 12th. They start the numbers over, though. So, they're in 1st.**

**2. In Japan, they only have one teacher besides their gym teacher.**

**3. They say their last names, then their first in Japan.**

**Disclaimer- I dun own Okmi r n e thng ls.  
**

Riku sighed and sat next to Miuri. "Jeez, they shouldn't call these things books, they should call them bricks. It's so annoying to have to lug a ten-pound backpack all around this stupid school. Seriously, why can't we just be happy with having some small books and not having tons of large ones?"

"That's what I'm wondering," she answered, yawning. "I mean, seriously. Why can't we have something simpler than this? Maybe I should, like, move to America so I can have less homework. Plus, I heard somewhere that they only have six hours of school, unlike our ten."

"Six, huh?" Riku murmured, bringing some noodles to his mouth. "That sounds good to me. I'll probably end up dropping out of school, anyway."

"What?!" Miuri squealed, standing up quickly. "Drop out of school!? That would be so idiotic! What if you have a family?! What will you do then?! Your family won't be able to fend for themselves! It would be horrible if you worked in a restaurant or something and had a family to feed! Have you ever thought about that, you idiot?!"

"Whoa." Riku said blankly, staring at her. "Didn't think I'd get that reaction."

"Of course you would!" Miuri exclaimed. "I mean, seriously, Riku! What else could you-"

"Miuri!" Mr. Jintayo snapped. "Be quiet! If you want to get rid of some energy, use it to get your math grade up!"

Miuri's face turned bright red and she sat down. Riku gave a little, quick smirk. He was glad that he didn't have Mr. Jintayo. He was rumored to be the strictest teacher in the whole school.

Riku felt himself staring at Miuri and quickly turned away, his face bright red. She was amazing... most people didn't find her that way, but Riku did. She was beautiful. When she was in first grade, she had accidentally died her hair a red-brown color. She liked it, so she kept it. Her eyes were dark, but clear and sparkling. She had soft curves and a gentle smile that almost no one could resist. She was the most amazing girl that Riku had ever met in his entire life.

"H-hey!" Miuri said, quickly looking up. "Jin's not here today!"

Riku frowned. "He hasn't been here for two or three days, right? He said he felt sick a couple days ago, didn't he?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Miuri hesitated. "It's just that... he's... not called me or anything. Neither has his father, or his sisters."

"Why haven't you called?" Riku asked blankly.

"Because... our phones went off a week ago and haven't gone on again..." She mumbled.

"Want me to call? I have 'im on speed dial." Riku answered, taking out his cell phone and turning it on.

"Riku!" She squealed. "You aren't supposed to have a cell phone at school!"

As Riku put his cell phone to his ear, he replied, "Miuri, you should know by now that I don't usually follow the rules."

"Well, I-" She began, but Riku shushed her by putting a finger to her lips and giving her a stern look. Her face turned bright red and he grinned.

The phone rung a couple of times before someone finally answered. _"Hello? This is the Sakurada residence."_

"Uh, hi. This is Riku." He nearly hit himself on the forhead. It was common courtesy to say your last name then your first name! Stupid!

_"Ah! Riku! This is Michiru."_

Riku frowned. Michiru? Wasn't that Jin's older brother? But... Michiru was at college, studying to be some sort of teacher...

"Michiru? What're you doing there?" Riku asked, confusion clear in his voice. Miuri raised her eyebrows a bit, also frowning. She had had a slight crush on Michiru, so it was obvious that she would care that he was back.

_"Well... you see... just a second. I need to ask Dad something."_

"Wait, what?!" Riku exclaimed. "Your dad is there?! But isn't he supposed to be at work right now?!"

_"Yeah... I guess. One second. Please, Riku." _For a moment, Riku could hear muffled voices on the other end of the line. Soon, Michiru started talking again.

_"All right. So, my dad says it's okay to tell you what's going on."_

"What _is _going on?!" Riku demanded, panic filling his voice. "Seriously!"

_"A couple of days ago, Jin... disappeared. We're not sure where he went. He just... was gone." _Riku's eyes widened and he almost dropped his phone. Jin was... gone? How could that be? Where did he go? What was going on? What happened to him? Was he okay?

"What?!" Riku exclaimed.

_"I-It's true... I'm here because Jin disappeared. Now I won't be able to go to college again for quite a while since that was my tuition money."_

"Do you have any clue where he went at all?!" Riku demanded into the phone.

_"I-I'm sorry, b-but... we don't know... he just upped and was gone a couple of days ago."_

"How in the heck can you be so freaking calm?!" Riku practically shouted. "I want to know where he is!"

_"Please calm down, Riku..."_

"No, I won't be calm! In fact, I-"

"Mr. Takahashi." Mr. Jintayo snarled. "That's your name, isn't it? What are you doing here with a cell phone?"

"Oh, crap." Riku said blankly. "Michiru, I've gotta go... I'll call ya later."

_"Wait, I-"_

Riku closed his cell phone, staring blankly up the teacher who was glaring with fierce anger down at the fifteen-year-old. Mr. Jintayo grabbed Riku by the collar and began dragging him away to the headmaster's office.

"You know that's against the rules, Mr. Takahashi. Now you're going to pay." Mr. Jintayo snarled.

"NOOO!" Riku screamed. "Save me, Miuri! My mom's gonna kill me!"

Of course, she just waved good-bye to him and ate the rest of her lunch.

* * *

Riku sat down in front of the headmistress, a big pout on his face. It wasn't as though this were his first time being here, but he was going to get suspended. That was the deal. If he was a good boy for a month, then he would get some money to buy video games. If not, he would be suspended from school for a whole week with no ability to retake any of the things that he missed.

"Ah, Mr. Takahashi." The headmistress murmured, turning slowly to him. "It's been less than two weeks. Is 10,000 yen **(About 100 dollars)** not enough? Apparently not because you're back here."

"Please," Riku began to beg. "Don't tell my mom! It was an accident! And I was just wondering where a friend of mine was!"

The headmistress, Mrs. Tanaka raised an eyebrow. "Where you calling the Sakurada family?"

"I-" Riku began, but quickly stopped and looked up. "Well... yeah. It's Jin. I don't know where he is."

"I know." Mrs. Tanaka replied softly, staring out her window. "He just disappeared. We know that he didn't run away because he didn't bring anything. We know that he wasn't kidnapped because he would have shouted and there was no sign of a struggle. He merely vanished."

Riku nodded slowly. "What do you think happened?"

She turned slowly back to him. "I'm not a very churchy kind of person, but I think that a force greater than us took him away. Some sort of god."

Riku blinked. "A god?"

"Yes. It's not my place to judge or anything, but even Koheiko thinks that might be the case."

Riku's jaw dropped. "Koheiko?! As in, the Koheiko who is a detective?! The greatest detective in all of Asia?!"

"Yes." She answered softly. "After hearing about Jin's mysterious disappearance, he was rather curious, so he sent some men to take a look around for him. He concluded soon that something supernatural was going on. Other things like this have happened, but never before has he admitted so openly that Jin could never be found."

Riku felt despair come over him. If Koheiko, who was ranked number three best detective in the current world, was unsure if Jin could be not found, then who else could they look at for help?"

"However... Mr. Takahashi." Mrs. Tanaka said, turning to him, darkness in her eyes. "Although I haven't too many notices on what's going on in the Sakurada home, I believe that Light, from the U.S.A., might be coming to take a look at it sometime today."

Riku's jaw dropped again. Light was the number one detective in the world. He had been given that name after solving so many cases that someone proclaimed that he had brought a new light to the world. That was just over five years ago. Now... Light was even better and smarter.

"B-But, Koheiko said that he didn't think that Jin could be ever found!" Riku exclaimed. "Didn't he? I mean, what's-"

"Mr. Takahashi." Mrs. Tanaka quickly turned away. "I... I don't know what happened to Jin. No one knows. Light wants to know. He hasn't met a case that he hasn't been able to solve yet. He wants to meet a challenge. And that's what this is."

Riku blinked as he noticed that her shoulders were shaking. "M-Mrs-Mrs... Tanaka..." Riku mumbled.

"Just go, Riku."

And so he did. Little did he know, but that was the last time he would see her.

* * *

Lee leaned against the wall, a slight smirk on his face. His usually black, fierce eyes were currently a mystifying purple. He was wearing interestingly thick glasses, but with oddly thin rims. It was made from black wire.

However, Lee did not use his glasses for the usual things, like seeing. It was more useful than that. These glasses allowed anyone that looked into his eyes to regain their lost memories, or to faint. Either way, Lee usually got what he wanted.

And what he wanted right now was Riku.

His old best friend. General Riku was his official best friend. He was so different right now... Riku acted so strange. Lee could only hope that he would be back to normal after this.

When Riku left, he had needed half of Lee's power due to the fact that he needed to be able to become slightly human-like. At least slightly. He had also changed his inward ways, which took quite a bit of power. After Lee took back his power, he would be much better off against the God of Time for quite a few reasons:

1. He would have an amazing general back.

2. Jin would be unsure about how to act towards his ex-friend.

3. Lee would have much more power.

4. He would have a better general than his current one.

5. Jin would be unsure who to trust.

6. Jin might leave their group, changing the fate of history.

Either way, it would be a win for Lee. After all, he would have at least three of those six things happen to him. And how he eagerly awaited these things to happen for him.

Riku walked out of the front office, a look of fear on his face. He blinked as he noticed Lee, who smirked.

"Hello, Riku." He muttered in perfect English.

Riku seemed even more confused. "E-Excuse me?"

Lee walked quickly over to Riku, faster than most humans could call a walk, and pinned Riku silently against the wall. Riku seemed more confused than ever. Lee felt his breathing deepen with delight at finally having been able to get Riku back.

"Lee...?" Riku whispered, slight pain in his voice but more fear than anything. Lee relished that. The pain in Riku's voice. To him, it tasted like honey.

"Oh, Riku..." Lee's shoulders began shaking as he gave a low laugh. "Oh, Riku... you and I can finally be friends again. Somewhere in your mind, you're very happy. But you can never be as happy as me. We can defeat the God of Time together, Riku."

"Lee!" Riku sounded both fearful and disturbed. "What in the world are you talking about?!"

"Riku... Riku... Riku..." Lee kept muttering his name, over and over again.

"Lee!" Riku snapped. "Let go of me!"

"Takahashi. Takahashi... Riku. What a silly name. Let's change your name back to what it was supposed to be."

Lee stared into Riku's eyes. Riku's eyes opened in shock and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Lee smiled cruelly as he watched the images flashed through his eyes.

Finally, blood red came over his eyes. Nothing else was there. He was staring blankly in front of himself. Tears slowly dripped from his eyes. Their shine was mystical and it looked pink, as though blood was mixed with the salty water.

Lee licked the water off Riku's cheeks, and felt his powers coming back to him quickly. Even though it appeared as though the water was only partially filled with blood, it actually tasted interally like blood. Sweet, sweet, addicting blood that Lee wanted to forever lick.

He stopped soon, though, know that if he took too much Riku's life-force would be sapped. And if that happened, then what would be the point of trying to get General Riku back?

Riku's eyes slowly drifted back to the color that he had been born with all those years ago: blue-green, like the sea. His hair was as white as snow, and his skin was slightly more pale. His arms looked quite a bit stronger, and he seemed more confident, but more angry.

"Hello, Youkai Riku." Lee said softly.

Riku gave a little smile back. "It's good to be back, King Lee."

"Are you ready to defeat the God of Time, General Riku?" Lee asked, already knowing the answer.

"When have I not been ready?"

"Then let's go to the Palace and make some plans."

Riku gave a cold chuckle. "That's the best offer I've had all day, King Lee."

* * *

Light looked up slowly. "This isn't good. I believe it's going to be bloody."

"What do you mean?" Chester asked softly, kneeling next to the younger man.

"It smells like... the smell of birth of a child." Light answered, not glancing up. "Like... the birth of something ignorant to the world..."

"I'm not sure that I follow, Light." Chester said softly.

"In the end... it doesn't even matter." He whispered.

"What do you mean, Light?" Chester said, sounding even more confused.

"Light. Hikari. Lumiere. Ligero. Litch. Guang. Sveta. Or. It all means the same thing, yes? It's my name."

Chester nodded, looking confused. "Yes. They all mean light. But what does that have to do with this case?"

"This person shall be a standard unto the land, a light among the nations." He said softly. "Forgetting all the hurt inside that you've learned to hide so well. Celebrate the art of life. And they stood around the Tree of Hope. I can't be who you are."

"What do you mean?" Chester asked softly.

"This person... Jin Sakurada... he will come back. But he'll be different."

"He will?"

"Yes. He shall be something so much more important. He's confused. Inside. He's not the only one, though. It's his fault."

"Is he all right?"

Light chuckled. "I think so. I'm not magic, Ches."

"I still don't understand how you can tell all of that, Light."

"Some of us just have more strange abilities than others." Light replied.

"Is he coming back soon?"

Light shook his head. "Everybody has a face that they hold inside. A face that awakes when I close my eyes. A face that watches every time I lie. A face that laughs every time I fall. It watches everything."

Chester did not answer. Light would explain himself.

"I know, Chester, that you're new to being my partner, being that Derrin died. But you must know that I think you were picked specifically for this time and place to be my partner. I believe that it was fate that you happened to pass that test. I believe it was fate that we happened to meet."

Light closed his eyes, taking in deep breaths. His white hair fell in his eyes. He didn't bother to move it.

"Chester. What do you think Jin is?"

"What do you mean?" Chester answered. "I think that Jin is a boy that has disappeared."

"I didn't ask you what he might be. I ask you what you think he _is_." Light murmured.

Chester seemed slightly confused, but replied, "I believe that he's a human boy."

Light laughed softly. "You have no imagination. He's not a human boy, as you say. Oh, I believe that he's male, but human? Not quite."

"What do you think he is, then?"

Light turned away. "I think... he's a god."

Chester stared. "A god?"

Light gave a little laugh. "Oh, yes. It seems quite likely to me."

Chester shook his head. "I'm not sure that I follow."

"A boy disappears. It smells like a newborn child in his room. One of his best friends disappear. It all comes together for me."

"His friend?"

"Yes... another boy has disappeared. It's funny. They're still in Japan, and yet they're not. I only have on thing I can conclude at this point."

"And what's that?"

Light's eyes flashed. "That they're in the past or the future."

"Really?" Chester's voice quivered.

"Quite." Light sighed. "But I think that's enough sleuthing for one day. I need some coffee."

Chester started staring again. "That's... it?"

Light laughed. "Oh, no. That's not it. We're going to pull an all-nighter. I'm going to solve this case if it kills me."

**A/N- Review... please... poo on you if you don't. Also, Youkai means demon. I know, I'm so original...**


	5. The World Needs To Shut Up

**A/N- Blah blah blah. You know the drill.**

**Disclaimer- Blah blah blah. You know the drill.**

"Bye, Dad," Larka said. Waka gave his daughter a lopsided grin.

"See ya later, Larks," He replied.

Larka's face turned bright red as I started to chuckled softly. "Dad! Don't call me that stupid name in front of the dorks!"

"I resent that!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"Be quiet, dork," Larka said almost absently.

"Ba ba, big sister..." Momo, the younger boy, mumbled, waving to her. "Me miss you..."

"I'll miss you, too, Momo," Yuuki said, giving him a tight grin. "But you'll be safe with Mr. Waka."

"Oui," The strangely dressed man agreed.

"We'll see you soon, right, Yuuki?" Aoi asked, sucking gently on her thumb. Yuuki gave her that same tight grin.

"I promise."

Aoi nodded. "Okay, big sister."

"I need you to be a big girl and take good care of Momo, okay?" Yuuki asked, gently dislodging the girl's thumb from her mouth. Aoi nodded slowly.

"Au reviour, petite," Waka said, nodding at me. I scowled at him.

"Don't call me that, you crazy Frenchie."

In answer, Waka laughed and began walking wouth, to the capitol, while we turned to the north, to who in the heck knows where. Then again, I never really knew where I was.

"So... are we gonna walk the whole way or hitchhike or what?" I asked.

"You're such a dork!" Larka said, laughing. "We're gonna walk, of course! Unless you can magically run really fast!"

"Fudge..." I muttered.

"That's really-" Larka began, but suddenly stopped, the wolf ears on top of her head suddenly perking up. A look of absolute fear passed her face.

"What?" I asked. "What is it?"

"Cicadas..." she whispered.

"Huh?" I asked.

"It's cicadas!" She cried. "Can't you hear them?!"

"Are you... scared of them?" I asked, smirking slightly. She whirled on me, her nostrils flaring.

"NO!" She shouted. "That would be idiotic! Don't even speak such a stupid thing!"

Yuuki smirked. "Looks like someone's a bit tense."

"SHUT UP!" She snapped, baring her wolf teeth, obviously on the brink of turning into a wolf and eating them up.

I merely laughed at this. Larka was rather easy to torture, wasn't she? Well, I was the same way, and I was much easier to torture than her. Maybe the world was a bit off because aren't guys supposed to be the ones that save the girls, not the other way around?

Whatever. It didn't matter that much.

"Can we just get out of here?" Larka complained. "It's cold and I-"

"Larka? Is that you?" I blinked and turned to see a huge, giant, HUMONGOUS wolf standing a bit down the path. It was black with red on top of it, and was wearing some sort of mask. Also, on its back, it had a sword. I couldn't help but wonder how the wolf used it if it had no thumbs.

"Oki!" She cried, and transformed into a wolf. The instant that she did so, she jumped on him, biting at his ears and tried to push him to the ground.

"What the heck...?" I blankly asked.

"Oh, yeah," Larka said, jumping off the monstrous animal that could barely be described as a wolf. "This is Oki. He's a family friend."

"A pleasure to meet you," The wolf said, giving a little bow.

"Er... right. I'm Jin. Nice to meet you, dude," I said.

I still wasn't used to the fact that demons were running around, I was a God, I was in the past, I was in love, I was supposed to save the world, animals could talk and people could turn into animals... so on so forth.

"By the by, do you happen to be the God of Time?" The wolf asked curiously.

I groaned. "I'm as much as the God of Time as I am some freaking stupid pockey!"

Oki glanced at Larka curiously. "Do you know what "pockey" is?"

"Candy of the future. Addicting stuff," Larka replied.

"Hi, Mr. Oki of the Oina!" Yuuki said, pretending to be Ms. Bright-and-Shiny. "I'm Yuuki, and it's so nice to meet you!"

"Really?" Oki asked, his ears perking up a little.

"No," she answered flatly.

"I knew it was too good to be true," Oki said, shrugging.

"Why didn't you help us when we needed you?! Because of you stupid Onia, we were left to burn and die! My family died, my friends died, and we were stuck in a horrible cottage for three years, alone, without any help from you stupid things Onia! But we all knew you were all right, because the demons would occasionally talk about you guys! When the demons attacked, you hid from them! You were cowards! You would come out of your stinking snow-covered village only to attack people on the roads and steal from them! Not only are you cowards, but you're thieves! Horrible, traitorous, dirty, scared, sick, rotten, stinking, stupid, ugly, idiotic thieves who deserve to burn in hell!"

We all stared at her.

"What?" She asked. "Am I not allowed to express my opinion?"

"You talk a lot," Larka said simply. "What a dork."

"What?!" Yuuki screeched. "Did you just call me a dork?! Omigosh, you are such an idiot!"

"Calm down, you two," I said, frowning. "We're a team. We need to work together. And that means not calling each other names."

"SHUT UP!" They screamed at the same time, pointing their anger towards me.

"Ugh..." I muttered, folding my arms. "So stupid..."

"What? The girls or how their acting?" Oki asked, giving me a wolfish grin.

"Both," I answered, watching them screech at each other.

Oki yawned, and said, "As long as things stick to just words, I don't care what the heck they do."

"By the way, I'm sorry about what Yuuki said about your people. I don't know much about you people, but that's pretty much the best I can think of at the current moment. I'll make her say that she's sorry later."

Oki looked sad. "You don't need to be sorry. What she said is true."

"Huh?" I said blankly.

"Three years ago, this war began. We tried to be warriors at first, but..." He chuckled softly, although there was only sadness in it. "We failed. The demons killed half of our people. Years and years before, almost ninety years ago, I had begged the Goddess Amaterasu to give me eternal life until the day that my village dies. And she did."

"What happened?" I asked.

"The Demon King came to us and told us that if we stopped resisting then the village would never again have a demon to attack. He would tax us, but, other than that, we would be able to live. So we accepted it."

"You just gave in!?" I cried, standing up. "How could you just give up?! You should never give up!"

Oki stared at me hard, not quite glaring. "I had no choice. It was allow my village to be safe, or let them die. Which would you have chosen? I am going to defend the Oina, no matter the cost, for all eternity. I cannot accept anything but the best for my people."

"And that's why he's a traitor!" Yuuki cried, breaking away from the heated conversation that she and Larka had been enjoying. "He's sick and terrible! His people belong to the Demon King, our enemy! If it were me, I would have just kept fighting, no matter the consequences! In fact, I have! Do you feel bad that a fourteen-year-old has more courage than you do?!"

Oki closed his eyes, transforming into a human. I noticed, rather quickly, that I couldn't see his face due to the mask. And that he was tall. And imposing. And scary. Just like his wolf form.

"Holy (enter-choice-of-swear-word)," I said blankly. "You're tall, dude."

"I'm not a traitor. I am trying to find a way to defeat the Demon King, just as you. And I'm going to tell my people that the God of Time is back, and we will have a whole day filled with celebrations, little girl. Until then, however, I am going to continue trying to defeat the Demon King."

"I'm not the flippin' God of Time!" I cried.

"Why not?" Oki asked curiously.

At this, I fumbled for words. That simple question... 'Why not?' would drive me insane for the next few weeks. Why was I not the God of Time? Why not?

"Hey, Oki, do you mind if we stay with the Onia for a while?" Larka asked casually, breaking the silence. "Just a day or two so we can catch a few demons and see if any of them know where the Demon King's Lair is."

"We're going on a demon hunt?!" I demanded.

"Of course we are, you dork," she answered. "What else would we do in our spare time?"

"Fudge."

"I'm not going on some stupid demon hunt," Yuuki declared.

"What do you want to do, then?" Larka asked sarcastically. "Write love letters to Jin? Or maybe you could write them to my dad!"

Yuuki's face turned bright red and she clenched her fists. "You are such an idiot!"

"You're such a dork," Larka shot back in a bored tone.

"Is it always like this?" Oki asked me.

I shrugged. "I've only been with these people for a few days, but, yeah, it seems like it."

"That sucks," Oki said sympathetically.

"I know," I answered, sighing. "But if I don't put up with it, then I can kiss home good-bye."

Oki nodded, then turned to the quarreling girls. "All right, you two, let's get going to the village."

"I'm not going there!" Yuuki announced.

"Then you can stay here," I said, quickly walking to keep up with Oki's huge strides.

With much grumbling, Yuuki followed us, her arms folded. A sudden thought came to me and I turned to Yuuki, a grin on my face. She scowled at me some more.

"It's not good to be racist!" I exclaimed.

She hit me. "Shuddup."

"You piece of poo!" I cried, rubbing my head. "That hurt!"

She rolled her eyes, walking a bit faster. As she passed by me, I heard her say, "What a big baby..."

"Meanie!" I cried.

* * *

_I glanced around, feeling my heart beat quickly. It was here somewhere. The creature. The creature that the Demon King had brought up from the worst place anywhere._

_"**It can smell you... it smells your fear, Jin.**" I heard the Demon King whisper._

_"I just want to go home!" I cried. "That's all I ever wanted! I don't want to be the God of Time! I just want to be Jin!"_

_"Jin..." I turned around and saw Miuri, looking half-dead. "Jin... you betrayed us..."_

_"No!" I cried. "I-it's not like that, Miuri!"_

_However, before I could say anything else, she fell down, slipping off a blade. A blade that was held by Riku, but not Riku. This Riku had blue eyes and white hair. He was a demon._

_"She deserved it and you know it," he hissed._

_"Y-you killed Miuri!" I shouted, feeling tears come into my eyes. "How could you, Riku?! You're a traitor!"_

_"No, Jin..." Riku said, turning away from me. "I was never on your side to begin with."_

_He disappeared into fire, burning up before I could ask him anything else. Before I could talk to him again. He was gone._

_"Jin!" Yuuki screamed. "You let it get me! You let it kill me!"_

_"Yuuki!" I called. "Where are you?!"_

_"**My pet liked the taste of your friend, Jin... and he's going to have another bite at your friends.**"_

_I heard Larka scream, but not in anger. Not in pain. _

_In fear._

_"What have you done with her, you beast?!" I demanded. "Where is she?!"_

_"Jin..." I turned around. There stood Amaterasu, her white hair stained with blood. In her arms she held the heads of Oki and Waka._

_"I trusted you..." she whispered. "And you failed me."_

_"I didn't mean to!" I cried._

_"It's your fault," she said simply. "And now we are going to die, too."_

_"No... no... NO!" I screamed._

_"Jin... Jin..." I turned around and saw my two sisters, my brother, and my father all moaning my name. "You failed us all! You destroyed the future, as well as the past..."_

_"No..." I whimpered.  
_

_"**Jin... want to feel my sword?**" Pain spurted from my chest, and I looked down in shock. Blood poured from where the Demon King had sliced through my chest._

_"I'm going... to die?" I whispered._

_My head began spinning and I slid off the blade onto my knees. I stared forward, my vision blackening around the edges. A numb, odd feeling overcame my body. I didn't feel pain anymore, at least._

_"**Goodbye, God of Time,**" The Demon King hissed._

_I watched as I fell down, but I didn't feel it. It was as though I was miles away... just watching something from someone else's eyes. Even as I closed my eyes for the last time, I managed out one last sentence with my last breath._

_"I failed."_

_

* * *

_I sat straight up, eyes wide and hair everywhere. I put my hand on my chest and whispered, "It was just a dream... just a dream..."

"God of Time... Jin..." I heard a soft voice say. I quickly turned and saw Amaterasu standing over me, her eyes sad.

"A-Amaterasu?" I asked quietly.

"Jin, you must not fail us. This dream I have showed you is what shall happen should you fail."

I felt a stab of fear. Everyone... would die? If I didn't win, then everyone would die? Even my family? Riku? Miuri? Larka? Yuuki? Waka? Oki? Amaterasu?

Me?

"They... will die?" I asked softly.

Amaterasu nodded, her face grave. "I'm sorry you had to learn this from me, Jin, but it's true. Everyone shall die if you fail."

I sighed and said, "That's a lot of pressure to put on just one guy, ya know?"

"You can handle it. You were born to be an adventurer. You are truly the God of Time."

"Will... I really be... able to go home after all this is done?" I asked. "And will everything be the same?"

She hesitated before saying, "You will be able to go home. I can promise you that much. But everything being the same...? I don't think so."

"All right..." I whispered.

"Now, sleep, Jin... let no time be wasted in this..." Amaterasu whispered.

I pretended to be asleep after a while, hoping that she would just go away. I was in no mood for a crazy goddess. But... she began to sing softly.

"Collapsing on top of the cold grass

I want to hide my burning body

These mid-winter constellations are my lovers

I have been waiting all this time

My mood today is the highest

Like the sky that has no despair nor hope

I want to be translucent

If we do not meet, we won't fight

With no chance for disillusionment

The wind that is like a knife

Helping to increase my speed

Take 5

What version of myself makes me happy?

Like the sky that has no success nor failure

I want to be translucent

Take off my coat and step inside

With no beginning and no end

I want to live this day we call today honestly"

She started to gently stroke the hair from my in front of my eyes. I could almost picture that soft, sweet smile on her face...

"Good night," She whispered. "Jin."

**A/N- R&R, GOSH DANG IT!! AND NO FREAKING FLAMES OR I'LL KILL THE HECK OUTTA YA'LL YA'LL!!**


	6. Mr Goody Goody

**A/N- Thanks for the review, Tainted Lullaby!  
**

**Disclaimer- ...**

"Ya see..." Larka said softly. "The best way to get a big demon is to pretend to be an innocent little thing, and then spring out and kill them or capture them or whatever it is that you want to do to them. You got that, dorks?"

I nodded and Yuuki scowled. She obviously didn't like the fact that Larka was in charge. However, personally, I was glad that someone besides me was in charge. If I were in charge, I think that the Demon King would have already won this war.

"Oh, you don't understand, Yuuki?" Larka asked innocently. "Here, let me help you..."

The fourteen-year-old nutsoid pushed the other girl into a large snowdrift. At this, I sighed. Why couldn't they get along for two freaking seconds?

"Larka!" Yuuki growled. "I'm gonna kill you!"

"Oh yeah?!" Larka demanded. "Well, let's just see you try, dork!"

"I wi-" Yuuki began.

"Girls, be quiet!" Oki snapped. "This is no time for anything like that. We need to work."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Larka growled.

I sighed, closing my eyes. These people couldn't be calm for a minute, could they? Was there no such thing as peace and quiet in this world? Apparently not, according to those two. How annoying. Hmph.

My mind wandered to the night before as the three people I was with continued to argue. Amaterasu... had she meant everything that she had said? If I didn't do this, then everything would go wrong? Everyone would... die? I shuddered.

My mind turned to what she had also done when she thought I was asleep. I remembered her soft touch as she pushed my hair out of my eyes. It had felt... almost motherly. How strange and... and yet it felt nice at the same time. It also gave me an odd feeling of deja vu.

"Hey, dork, wake up," Larka said, flicking me on the nose and causing me to blink. "We have work to do."

"Er... right," I mumbled, blushing slightly. "Sorry."

"Okay, here's the plan," Larka said. "First of all, Jin's gonna freeze time; be careful when you do so, Jin."

I nodded, sighing, again. "I still don't really believe..." I blinked, trailing off. Did I really think that I wasn't the God of Time? Everyone was believing in me... except me. Why couldn't I believe in myself if these people could? These people I didn't even know existed until about four days ago?

"What do you do?" I asked, cutting myself off. Larka grinned.

"I tie him up," she replied.

"What about me?" Yuuki asked snobbishly. Honestly, I don't think I would feel too bad if she got captured again and I never saw her again.

"You stick it here. I don't want you in the way, Little Miss Powderpuff," Larka said, sneering.

"Would you just shut up, you idiot?!" Yuuki demanded. "And I wouldn't get in the way!"

Larka suddenly had a huge, evil grin on her face. "Oh, I just got a good idea. It's called we throw you out there and watch the demon eat you up. Sounds fun to me."

Yuuki screeched in range, her face turning bright red. Oki and I winced. There went any chance of a surprise attack. Larka didn't seem to mind much.

The demon, of course, had heard Yuuki scream. It was fat, red, and had a mane around its neck. Large fangs protruded from its mouth. Its tiny ears perked up as it heard the girl scream in fury. It took less than a second to turn and see them. It grinned evilly at us.

"Oh, fudge," I said blankly.

"Shgrytgn!" The demon exclaimed. "Uangst!"

"Did he just say angst?" I asked.

"No, he said that it's time for breakfast," Larka corrected.

"Larka, what did you do?!" Yuuki screeched.

"What did I do?!" Larka laughed. "It was what you did, you dork!"

"Dkjfadfd? (Um, hello?)" The demon asked. "Kadfj fdkjaujein fksdn ckhdsiaeomnc fdfkknfd adkfjiew df dnflekjpfsdf dfk dfkd emdo dkjsjndf dfknasfe dalkgkjh akdmne fkjd ekldjf a fdksaljfio dfnhsdf sdlakfjeind aidnfa kijfsad aondf szkjfa kajed fsak fajkfdadfne jland falkfna ckjfdsa lfjalfna fklajfncikje dfkjds jekfmn dfjaiehjr djfdsajfdsa fdfal sdkfjdnff dfrjekanfcd feuttt fkjhskfn ajhdg dka? (Did I miss something?)"

"That's it!" I exclaimed. "Freeze!"

Time froze... much to my surprise. And happiness.

"Peace and quiet..." I murmured, sitting down, exhausted. "Finally."

Then my mind turned to Larka. She would kill me if I didn't wake her up. Well, she might kill me even if I do, but still. So, I stood up and poked her.

"Finally, you dork!" Larka exclaimed. "C'mon, let's get to this, already! Don't wake up Yuuki. She's a big brat."

I couldn't disagree with that.

"So, what do you think of everything that's gone on so far, dork?" Larka asked casually while giving me a bottle filled with acid and tying up the demon with some rope that we had brought.

"You mean my easy life being ripped into shreds? You mean finding out I'm a God? You mean finding out that I'm the hope of Japan, in this time and the future? You mean leaving my family behind? Well, if that's what you mean, I have to say that I hate it," I said simply, putting some acid on the demon's fangs (I don't even want to know where Larka found that stuff...) and staring at nothing in particular.

"Yup," Larka replied. "Also, you'll get used to it. Eventually."

"I'm so sure," I replied sarcastically, watching the teeth fizzle and melt.

"I hope you know that after we talk to this guy, I'm gonna start teaching you how to use your powers better, and how to defend yourself in a situation where you would be unable to use said powers," Larka said. I stared at her.

"That's the most scientific wording I've ever heard you say."

"Shut up." She muttered.

"So, what now?" I asked after we had finished tying the demon up and watching the acid work its magic.

"Easy," Larka replied. "All we have to do is make time work again."

I stared at her. "How do we do that?"

"Again, easy," She said. "Just say start."

"Okay..." I mumbled. "Start!"

Time started working again.

Both the demon and Yuuki seemed to be surprised at the position that the demon happened to be in. I couldn't see Oki's face so I had no clue what he was thinking. Larka looked proud of herself, and she smirked at Yuuki. I sighed. They were going to start at it again.

"How did you do that?" Yuuki asked.

"Easy," Larka replied. "We just stopped time and tied him up."

"Why do you keep saying easy?" I asked.

"Because," Larka replied. "It's easy."

"The demon," Oki reminded us.

Larka turned to the demon and promptly slapped him. "Tell us what we want to know!" She growled.

"Jdasfj sdakfjsk dfela jes sdfnf dje!" The demon growled.

"What did he say?" I asked.

"He said that he had no clue what the f we're talking about," Larka answered.

"Don't swear around me, you sick little demon!" I snapped at the demon.

"No, he really said f," Larka said.

"Oh."

Larka turned back to the demon. "We want to know where the Demon King's Lair is."

"Jdasfj sdakfjsk dfela jes sdfnf dje," It said.

"Stop faking it!" Larka cried. "You're a demon! You have to know!"

"Kdak shnakct akdj ku ke ke ke," It answered.

"What did it say?" I asked.

"It said that it would never tell. I think it's lying," Larka said.

"I'll touch it if we don't get some stupid answers soon," Yuuki said, folding her arms.

"Fkdasdf!" The demon snapped.

"Okay, now it said the f-bomb," Larka said.

"It reminds me a bit of Dravis..." I mused. Larka whacked me on the back of my head.

"Fadkf adfj it fakfn adfj akdjfs akjdf dfkja dkfja fksjdfiwe dfdm dfkja fskdjfas fkjdfn fekuji jta ffk akfjk akjalku fua fnka rkja lkjf afnh sajhf ssdjfe," The demon muttered.

"What did it say now?" I asked.

"Shut up," Larka translated.

"Can we just force the truth out of it and be on our merry way?!" Oki exploded.

"All right, all right, no need to get so fiesty," Larka said, sighing.

"Fkdasdf..." The demon muttered.

"All right, tell us where the stinking Demon King's Lair is!" Larka exclaimed.

"Dklj dfj hdfs dfjaf akjfn fklai fksan fkajk," The demon stated.

"What?!" Larka exclaimed, her face glowing red.

"What did it say?" I asked.

"The stupid demon thinks that I'm flat-chested!" Larka growled.

I didn't answer.

"Dkfl dfj adkfja dfjan," The demon muttered.

"Shut up!" Larka snapped. "You're no pretty picture yourself!"

"Dkjn asdkf sdfskhwe fndshf kdefjkl dmfrkenfd s," The demon said, grinning.

"What?!" Larka exclaimed.

The demon blew up. I'm not going to go into any details, but, let me tell you, it was sickening.

"What the heck just happened?" I asked, wiping blood off my face.

"It killed itself to not betray its secrets. Here ya go, Yuuki," Larka said, throwing some sort of organ onto Yuuki's head.

Yuuki glared at her.

"Maybe we should go after another?" I asked.

Larka laughed, wiping more stuff off her face. "No! There would be no point! He told me that they all have that same ability just before he died. He told me he was gonna use it, too."

"What?" I said blankly.

"They will kill themselves. There would be no point," Larka said simply.

"Oh." I pouted.

"What now, then, Ms. Smarty?" Yuuki asked, frowning. "Let's here another one of your brilliant ideas."

"Stop fighting children," Oki growled.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. I mean, aren't girls supposed to be the ones that mature faster than boys? Apparently that's not true here."

"All right, what is a good idea to you?" Larka asked.

I shrugged. "I dunno. I'm stupid. You girls are smart. I was just saying that you squabble a lot."

"Let's just go after another demon to get rid of the rest of the day," Yuuki said, sighing.

"No, we need to get ready for nightfall," I disagreed. "If anything, we need to get our campsite ready."

"Let's just stay here, then. Nothing like demon organs to keep you warm," Larka said, grinning widely.

"You're so gross!" Yuuki cried.

"I'll go hunting..." Oki sighed.

"I'll protect the two dorks," Larka said simply.

"I have no clue what I'll do!" I exclaimed.

"Just sit there and think about what you've done wrong today," Larka instructed. "We start training tomorrow."

"What do you-" I began, but Larka cut me off.

"I said think!" Larka exclaimed. "So shut up and think!"

I pouted, but did think about what I did wrong (A few times, I tried to bend the definition of wrong...) and finally came up with a list.

1- I hadn't listened to Larka when it was time to wake up.

2- I had taken more onigiri than I was supposed to do.

3- I had grumbled all the way over here.

4- I tripped Larka into the snow, resulting in the huge bruise I had on my arm.

5- I stared at Yuuki's chest.

6- I had lied about how much onigiri I had taken.

7- I wanted to freeze time and go home.

8- I tried to take Larka's shoes (Those things were huge!!) while she was taking a nap.

That was all I could think of at that moment. I'm not exactly Mr. Goody-Goody, as I'm sure you can tell.

"How am I supposed to save the world if I can't even be good?" I asked myself.

Larka threw her shoe at me. "I said shut up!"

Ouch. That's gonna hurt in the morning. Actually, it hurts right now.

* * *

"That's him!? What a dork!"

"Issun, don't be rude. Oh, what am I talking about?! He's a dork!"

"That girls a bit young, but when she's older... mm... melons..."

"Issun."

"Yes?"

"SHUT UP!!"

I sat straight up, eyes open wide. I glanced around and saw Larka holding a bug in her hand. She had obviously been talking to it.

"Oh, morning, dork," Larka said.

"What... who were you talking to?!" I demanded.

"What are you talking about?" She asked. "I was obviously talking to him."

She held out the bug. I stared at it for a while. I glanced up. She seemed very at ease. And she had been talking to a bug.

"You were talking to a bug?" I said blankly.

"Not a bug, you stupid little thing!" The bug exclaimed, jumping up and down. "I am Issun, the wandering artist!"

"He's a friend of mine," Larka said.

"What's going on...?" Yuuki yawned, sitting up.

"Ah, the pretty girl wakes up!" Issun cried.

Oki sat bolt up, glaring at the "not bug." Issun took a flying jump, landing in Larka's hair.

"Save me from the giant boar!" He cried dramatically.

"Shut up, Issun," Larka said absently.

"Give me that little bug!" Oki snapped. "I'm going to squish it and eat it!"

"Not a bug!" Issun called from somewhere in Larka's hair.

"What's going on...?" Yuuki repeated sleepily.

"We have a new friend," I replied sourly. I was getting more than a little tired of this load of crap.

"Oh..." She mumbled. "Well, I'll be asleep if you need me..."

As Oki was fishing through Larka's hair, searching for Issun, Larka was breaking some onigiri, (That's all that girl brought to eat...) praying over it, and Yuuki snored, I sighed.

Mental note: when you hear people talking, go back to sleep.

"Hey, what are we going to do today?" I asked.

Larka grinned. "Don't you remember? We start our training today."

I had a bad feeling about this.

**A/N- Pwease? Weview?**


	7. More Confusion

**A/N- Thanks for the reviews, Tainted Lullaby and Mischievous Wolf of Twilight! YAY!  
**

**Disclaimer- I own Jin and Yuuki and all my other random OC's, McKayla owns Larka, Dravis, and Rosco. Those other people own Okami.**

"Here's a stick," Oki said, handing me a stick. "And here's a stick for you, too, Larka."

"Thank you, Oki," Larka replied politely, but her eyes were showing the true evilness in her heart.

I had an impulse to pray to whatever God or Gods there are out there, but then I remembered that I was one. Darn it. That complicates a lot of things, including religion and politics. Don't ask.

Allow me to clarify some other points here... such as the fact that Larka has been trained by Waka (What a dorky dad...) since she was a toddler to destroy an enemy that might come her way. And, in this case, I happened to be the enemy. Isn't that lucky for me?

"Are you ready for me to kill you?" Larka asked.

"Er..." I began, but she hit me on the back of the head before I could speak again.

"Lesson number one: Don't let your guard down," Larka said.

"Erg..." I growled at her.

"Another thing; don't stutter or hesitate. Otherwise, your enemy will know that you're scared."

"Thank..." I mumbled. She hit me on the head again.

"What did I just tell you?!" She demanded.

"Don't hesitate!" I exclaimed, hoping she wouldn't hit me again.

Larka smirked. "Why, yes, I did."

I sighed, relieved. I had a feeling that by the end of this day, I would be covered in bruises, scars, and various other hurts that might not want to be mentioned at the current moment. Either way, this would be painful for me, but not her.

"Teach him what he needs to know, Larka," Oki said.

She glared at him. "Shut up."

"Tell me again why I'm awake..." Yuuki said, yawning. "It's the crack of dawn, you guys..."

"You need to watch this. In case by some chance we come across humans that want to hurt us, you're spiritual powers won't work against them. You'll need some way to protect yourself, and if you at least watch, you might remember some of this crap, you dork," Larka stated.

"How many times to do I have to tell you that I'm not a dork, you idiot?!" Yuuki growled.

I rolled me eyes. Those two would never be able to get along, would they? Why couldn't Larka be a bit nicer, and then why couldn't Yuuki be a bit less snobby? It would at least make my life a bit easier. Mm... that sounded wonderful.

"Hey, I can teach you how to use a sword," Issun said, bouncing up and down on Larka's shoulder. "Hold it firmly, but loosely. Be strong, yet weak. Keep your legs straight, but be ready at any time to jump out of the way of an enemy who tries to stab you! Did that help whatsoever?"

"No," I answered flatly.

"Didn't think it would kid. I was just hoping you would be stupid enough to try to do all that stuff at once. Obviously not, though," Issun rambled. "Oh, well. It was worth a try, wasn't it? Here, why don't we try it just to see what it would be like? C'mon, Larka, you should try it! Just try-"

"Shut up, Issun, or I'll make you," Oki growled.

"Excuse me!" Larka exclaimed. "Who's the teacher here?! I am! Now, Jin, let's see what you've got!"

I held the stick awkwardly, pointing it at her.

"Bow to your sensi!" She shouted in my face. I stared at her blankly. "I said bow to your sensi!"

I bowed, and she hit me on the back of the head, knocking me over. I stood up, furious. She grinned.

"What was that?!" I demanded.

"Bring it," she answered, signaling for me to come at her.

I took a light step forward, jabbing at Larka. She dodged it, and I brought the stick around, trying to get a good whack at her. Like she was doing the limbo or something, she ducked underneath it and brought her stick up to me, getting a good jab at my chin. I felt my lip begin to hurt, but I ignored it. She and I began circling each other, that murderous grin still on her face.

I wiped the blood that had come from my apparently split lip. As I watched her, an idea came to mind. What if I froze time? That might help me get ahead by quite a bit. I could give her some payback for splitting my bottom lip... which I had never done before.

Then again... Larka had said there were moments that I wouldn't be able to do that. If I just froze time every single time that I wanted to kill someone, then what would I do in a situation that I couldn't freeze time? It might be better to learn how to kill her like this right now, instead of being killed later in the game, when it wasn't a demo version.

I blinked and felt my world start spinning. What... was that? Ouch. Something hurt in the back of my head.

"Lesson number thirty-four: Don't think; react," Larka said, standing over me.

"Did you hit me?" I asked blankly.

"Yes. Now get up and bow to your sensi!" Larka cried, waving her arms wildly. "We need to work some more on this crap that you call fighting!"

"This sucks!" I announced, standing up dizzily.

"Life sucks. Deal with it," Larka replied. "Now bow to your sensi, fool."

"Larka, I'm hungry!" Yuuki complained.

"Shut up, dork!" Larka shouted, acting all dramatic.

I kind of wanting some breakfast, too... something like eggs. And toast. Something strange and American. Like my mom used to cook all the time. Maybe even pancakes.

I shook my head. This was not the time to be thinking about my crazy mother. Now was the time to be paying attention to Larka so she wouldn't kill me. Another mental note: Find a way to keep your eyes open when you're sleeping so Larka doesn't kill you in your sleep.

Long mental note. Hm.

"I'm rather hungry as well," Oki murmured. "Perhaps we could take a break?"

"We just started, you dorks!" Larka exclaimed.

"And yet, we're already sick of this crap," Yuuki said, folding her arms and rolling her eyes. "Amazing concept, no?"

"Shut up!" Larka shouted.

"Stop fighting!" I snapped. "If you two keep fighting, we're never going to get anywhere! Listen, maybe we could eat so we have more energy to fight longer, Larka. Yuuki, don't whine your way into things. It's completely annoying and stupid. If you want something, ask. Now shut up and let's get to it!"

Everyone stared at me.

And stared.

And stared.

"Finally, I agree on something a leader has to say in this group..." Oki muttered. "Honestly, that's one of the best ideas I've heard in quite a while."

I felt me face begin to turn red. Had I really just spoken out like that?! I was never the leader of anything. I had never been in any clubs or nominated for class representative or tried to be the leader of my friends or acted important or anything! It was very out of character for me.

"I-I don't want to be in charge or anything..." I mumbled. "I'm just tired of how stupid you two are acting..."

"I should beat you up right now," Larka stated, scowling.

An image of my body after Larka was finished with it went into my mind. It wasn't very pretty.

"But I won't because I'm so nice," Larka continued, abruptly running the frightening image out of my mind. "We might as well do what you say until I have enough energy to be in charge again. Let's a-go."

I sat down, my face still bright red. There was no way in heck that I would ever be a good leader. It was like putting soy sauce on eel. It just doesn't taste right.

I blinked as I felt a hand go on my shoulder. I glanced up. Yuuki was standing above me, a slight pout on her face.

"Do I really whine that much?" She whispered.

"Yeah..." I grumbled, looking down and playing with some snow.

"I... I'm sorry, Jin," she said softly.

I blinked in surprise and glanced up. She had already walked away, however, and was going to go help Larka prepare the food. Okay. Who knew that me speaking my mind for once would make such an impact on these two?

Oki sat down next to me and said, "That's the way it's handled."

"What?" I asked blankly, looking up.

"Those two have been fighting nonstop since you all first met, right? A good leader can make a big difference."

"But I don't want to be a leader," I whispered.

"The best kind of leader is the leader who doesn't want the power," Oki replied. "You don't want it at all, so I suppose you'll be an excellent leader one day."

"What the fudge?!" I exclaimed, standing up promptly. "What has happened to my life in the past week?! Argghh!!"

"Jin! Where are you going?!" Oki cried as I stomped off.

"I need to think this crap out!" I shouted over my shoulder.

"But breakfast is ready!" Yuuki shouted. "You shouldn't miss the most important meal of the day!"

I ignored her and the most important meal of the day, walking off even quicker (if possible) into the forest, hoping I would manage to get lost.

* * *

I sat down, sighing. This was a reasonable distance from those insane people and the bug, wasn't it? I had been walking for a half hour... at least. My feet were killing me.

"Sorry to anyone around me, but I need to pray... or scream. Whatever comes first," I muttered.

"It's gonna bother me!" A small voice announced. I looked around wildly, and finally found it... the bug, holding onto my sleeve.

"What are you doing here, bug?" I asked, frowning.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Issun cried. "How many times do I have to tell you!? I'm not a bug!"

"Whatever!" I cried. "I need help from Amaterasu! So shoo!"

"Shoo?! You're telling me to shoo?!" Issun demanded. "How rude!"

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped.

"Gentle ones... be at peace." I felt my face turn red. That was Amaterasu's voice...

"Yo, Ammy, how ya doing?" Issun asked, jumping off shoulder and over to the white-haired woman. She gave him a gentle smile.

"Issun... it has been much too long," she murmured, bending over to pick him up.

"Y-you two know each other?!" I demanded. For some reason, I had assumed that he was Waka's friend.

Amaterasu nodded, her face serene. My jaw dropped. Whoa. With the pervertedness of Issun, you wouldn't think that he would be friends with the beautiful Goddess.

"I-I need help again..." I mumbled.

"You have never been one to be able to fight..." She murmured, laughing softly.

I felt my ears turn red. "Y-you saw that...?"

"Of course," Amaterasu replied. "And I'm here to give you some friendly help."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" I cried.

"What about me?!" Issun demanded. "We haven't seen each other for twenty years, and all you have to say to me is 'it had been too long'?! I think that's cruelty! We were best buds, through and through adventures, and now you're just gonna leave me be! That's too evil!"

"Shh, Issun," Amaterasu murmured.

"Why should I be quiet?! This is mean, Ammy, even more mean than when you went after Oki, and then, you went to Waka! I mean, what the crap was that about?! I'm your best friend, and you just ignored me! I thought that we were friends, and you just cared about that weirdo Oina and the crazy moon-man!"

"Be silent, Issun!" Amaterasu snapped.

"Well, I'm so sorry..." Issun grumbled, folding his teeny-weeny arms.

"I said be silent!" Amaterasu growled.

Issun started to be silent. I thought that was a wise choice.

"Now, Jin..." Amaterasu murmured, turning to me gracefully. "I must be frank."

I stared at her. "Frank? Who's Frank?"

"It means that I must be honest," she replied, frowning slightly.

"Ah."

"Anyway, I need to give you the power you had before this time. You need it to be able to fight."

"Okay..." I said blankly. "And what power is this exactly?"

"Are you stupid?!" Issun demanded. "Honestly, I saw you before this journey started, and now look at you! You were a powerful God, full of strength and always willing to help anyone in need! And now look at you! You're a stupid little kid who only cares about himself!"

"Wh-what?" I asked blankly.

"Ammy here raised you to be a great and powerful God, not a wimpy little kid who didn't care about anyone but himself!" Issun snapped. "She wanted you to be able to help your people whenever they needed you, not to shy away in fear! I always respected you, even if I didn't show it. I always thought you were great, and now you're just an annoying little dip who doesn't know what in the heck he's doing here!"

"Issun!" Amaterasu cried. "Hold your tongue!"

"I will not!" Issun growled. "I also want to know what happened to him! He's gone for fifteen years, and when he's back he's an idiot!"

"I erased his memory!" Amaterasu cried, her eyes full of a terrible sadness.

"Wh-what?" Issun asked.

"We must talk later, Issun. For now, I must give Jin his full powers back," Amaterasu whispered, tears in her eyes.

This confused me. Both things. I didn't have my full powers? So... wait, this power that I had been using all this time was only a little bit of my power?! That was... amazing! I was more powerful than I had ever thought... but, then again, I had never really believed I was powerful.

The other thing that confused me was the fact that Amaterasu was crying. I couldn't figure out why, either. Did she not like the fact that I had gone into the future? Was she angry? What was a guy to do?! GRAAAHHH! Girls confuse me more than sudoku does!

Amaterasu walked over to me and laid a hand on my head, pulling me from my thoughts of confusion. She was looking forward with her red eyes, and it appeared that they were glazed over. I frowned and blinked, but just went with it. In this world, you need to just go with a lot of stuff, otherwise your world will be in chaos.

"Maitsu yo kashimeruta ute..." She murmured. "Okami."

Wolf? And what was that she said before? It sounded like she was rambling or just saying random things.

A bright flash of light covered my eyes, giving me the inability to see. Oh great. I was blind now. What kind of a gift was that?!

When the light and dots faded away, I felt a lot shorter. And I was on my hands and knees. And I had paws. And I had no clue what the heck was going on around this crazy place. I looked up at Amaterasu, who suddenly seemed really, really tall.

"Jin, you are a wolf," she said, as though reading my mind.

I gave a little squeal that sounded very unwolfish. I took a few steps back, tripped over my own back feet (or paws) and fell down in surprise. Issun burst out laughing, but Amaterasu did not.

"That was awesome!" Issun cried. "You look so tiny and silly! Holy freaking heck that's awesome!"

"Be silent, Issun," Amaterasu said absently. "Now, to transform into a wolf, you must only whisper the word "wolf" and you shall be in the state in which you are currently. To transform back, you must merely say "human" and you shall be human again."

I whined, unsure how in the heck I was supposed to say human if I was a freaking wolf. She gave a soft smile.

"Usually, you just thought human," she murmured, brushing back a stray lock of hair.

Oh. That was better. I could think. Talk, though? Not so much.

"How is this supposed to help him, again?" Issun asked. "I mean, if he's a wolf, that means that he's the same as always. Just a wolf who happens to be ill at fighting. Ammy, I think that you should have thought this little problem through a bit more seriously. Obviously-"

"Issun, he knows how to fight. All he must merely do is remember it," Amaterasu said simply.

Issun rolled his eyes. "Oh, right, and how is that supposed to help us destroy evil if he erased his memory?"

"I am a Goddess," Amaterasu said, sounding slightly offended. "I can help him to remember some things. Goodness, Issun, what do you take me for?"

I sighed, sitting down. Even when I was with a Goddess, I still ended up hearing girls fighting. I mean, seriously, what was up with it? Did I have some sort of sign on me that said _If there are any girls around, then please fight around me so I can be unhappy! _Seriously, that's how I felt sometimes.

"Now, Jin, close your eyes..." Amaterasu whispered. I did so, not entirely trusting her, but fearing that if I didn't, something bad might happen to me.

I could tell you that the images that went through my mind were slow, giving me the chance to take everything in nice and easily. However, if I did that, I would be lying, and I don't think that Gods are supposed to lie. Could just be me, though.

The first image-which lasted about a second-was of me and Amaterasu running along some sort of plains together. Next, came her and I fighting some sort of demon. Then, I was with Larka and Waka, and we were all wolves; she and I were fighting. Another image rushed through my mind of me as a human with Issun, each with a stick in hand and circling each other, as though we were about to battle.

The last one... was of me and Amaterasu. She and I were fighting, but obviously play fighting. And... I was a pup.

Amaterasu brutally cut off that one, fear and sadness obviously in her eyes. I looked up at her in confusion. What... had just happened? Why had we been fighting like that? Why was she sad? Oh, come on, my past seemed so mysterious and far-off to me...

"Do you know how to fight now?" She asked softly.

I nodded, standing up slowly. I glanced up and saw the sun was fairly high in the sky. How long had we been doing this?! Fudge, Larka would kill me! Or something along those lines, anyway!

"Go. Larka, Yuuki, and Oki are fearful for your safety," Amaterasu murmured, pointing to the direction I had come from. "Go."

I nodded and Issun grinned at me. "Don't trip over your own feet, wolf-boy! I've got some business to take care of Ammy, here, so I can't really come with you! But tell Larka that I think that she'll have it goin' on when she's older and Dravis is one lucky emo!"

I decided not to tell her that.

"And also..." Issun suddenly seemed embarrassed. "Can you make me a promise? A promise that the next time we meet you'll be the God that I respected?"

I nodded. Because, at the time, I did not know Issun, I had no clue what a major compliment this was. In fact, I would later call it "The impossible meeting the impossible." That later became my catch-phrase. Anyway, enough blabbering.

"Then get out of here, you mangy mutt!" Issun exclaimed. "Get!"

I turned around where my tail had been pointing before, and started running. To my surprise, I didn't trip over my own feet (or is it paws..?). In fact, I glided through the snow-covered forest as though I had born to do so. I felt like I was almost flying... sort of.

I blinked and skidded to a stop. Something had caught my nose. Some scent... some sort of scent that smelled good.

I put my nose to the ground, as an automatic instinct. I sniffed around my area, spinning around. I finally found the place where the scent came from and began walked around the area, trying to find the scent as though my life depended on it.

I blinked as I found the source of the scent. Paws. I slowly looked up, and yelped. Larka.

She seemed to not recognize me. "Hey," she growled roughly. "Do you know where a boy is? He's about fifteen, has black hair, and is a dork."

I felt slightly offended at that, but chose to ignore it. I wanted to tell her that it was me, but, alas, I had no clue how to speak as a wolf. Rather problematic, really.

"I smell him around here somewhere..." Larka muttered, sniffing the ground. "I know that he's here somewhere... Jin, you dork, where are you?"

Each time, her nose brought her back to me. I felt slightly awkward as she sniffed me. The weirdest part was that it felt like it had happened before. Like... deja vu. Dang, that's been happening a lot to me lately. What's up with it?!

Finally, she yelped, "Jin?! Is that you?!"

I bobbed my head, relieved. She finally knew that I was Jin! Thank goodness!

"How did you... what did you... what happened?!" She demanded, obviously flabbergasted. "How did you become a wolf?!"

I thought _human_, praying (I need to stop praying. I think that it's weird for a God to pray to another God.) that it work. Much to my surprise, it did. Just like when I transformed, a bright light flashed, making it so I couldn't see for a minute or so.

When I could see again, I was human again. I grinned and shouted, "Hooray! I'm normal!"

"Hardly..." Larka growled as she transformed into a human. When she was human again, she put a hand on her waist and asked, "Well? What the heck was that?!"

"I saw your mom and she showed me how to transform into a wolf and back," I said simply, examining my dirt-encrusted fingernails. I suppose that there have to be down-sides to everything.

"Okay, that's nice!" Larka said sarcastically. "Now, why did you?! And where's Issun?!"

"He went with Amaterasu," I replied. "And I did it because I wasn't thinking. I don't think very much."

"I noticed..." she grumbled.

"All righty, then!" I exclaimed, punching the air. "Let's a-go find the others!"

"Just shut up..." she grumbled some more. "You're embarrassing me..."

**A/N- Oh, well, that was a nicely long chapter. Please review, and no flames. Oh, and one more thing: SMILE AND BE HAPPY.**


	8. I Hate You, Riku

**A/N- Thanks for the reviews, Tainted Lullaby and Serpents Kiss!  
**

**Disclaimer- :F It a vampire.**

"Oh, Jin!" Yuuki cried, hugging me tightly. "I was so worried! Don't you ever run off like that again!"

Fight off perverted thoughts, fight off perverted thoughts... can't... try... any... more...

WOOT! I got a beautiful, younger girl hugging me! That rocks my socks! And her chest is right up against me! Ugoahds!! I could feel every little curve of her body up against my own, her cute little hands clutching the back of my shirt... ughtya...

"Get those thoughts out of your mind, Jin," Larka said absently.

I blushed as Yuuki pushed me away, her eyes glowing from anger. "You disgusting pervert, you! You are such a freak of nature!"

"I'm sorry!" I cried. "I'm fifteen! What do you expect out of me?"

"Something less sick," she replied easily.

I sighed and pushed my hair out of my eyes. My life had been interesting before. Now it was just annoying. Why couldn't I have just been a regular kid, not the flippin' God of Time? Ah, being normal sounded like paradise right now.

"So, dork number two," Larka said, turning to Yuuki, who scowled. "Dork number one got a new power."

Yuuki looked curiously at me. "You got a new power?"

"Yup," I answered proudly. "I can turn into a wolf now. It's sweet."

"Uh huh..." She replied dubiously.

"It's true. I saw Mr. Macho in action," Larka said sarcastically. "Guess what, though? He doesn't know how to talk."

"Would you shut up!?" I snapped at her.

"Children, calm down. Now, we need to get you to my village so we can protect it from those vile demons," Oki stated, folding his arms.

"Whatev," Larka muttered and began walking in front of us.

I sighed and frowned, glancing at myself. I was still in my school uniform... even after all this time. It might be harder to identify me as the God of Time if I wear something from this time. And not my button-up black and white uniform. I always did feel silly in it.

"Hey, Jin," Oki muttered, glancing at me.

"Er... yeah?" I asked, slightly fearful. Oki is the sort of guy you expect to kill you whenever he feels like it.

"No matter what, I'll protect my village. Even if it means killing you, Larka, or even Yuuki," Oki muttered, walking a bit quicker.

I stopped walking, my jaw hanging waaayyy down. Was that a threat? Could I not even trust my own freaking allies?! What was up with my idiotic life?!

"Oi, I'll take you down to heck in a hand-basket if you do anything or even think anything, Oki," Larka growled. "Remember? I can read miinnnddsss! And I'm a goddess! I'll kick your little butt from here all the way to San Fransisco!"

"If this is ancient Japan, then is San Fran even made yet?" I asked.

"Nope," Larka replied easily.

Oki merely grunted as a response, playing with one of his strands of hair. I watched him go, a slight frown on my face. So far, I didn't like this guy.

"Don't worry about Oki," Larka said, falling back to me. "He's just a dork who cares a little bit too much about his village."

Larka gave me a slight smile, and I felt my ears turn slightly red. She was... cute. Why hadn't I noticed this fact before? And why did I care? She's rude and dragged me here against my will and... and... yeah... she was still cute.

"What the crap..." I mumbled, walking a bit faster.

"I agree!" Larka called. "I tried reading your mind 'cause you looked embarrassed, but I couldn't hear nothin'!"

"Wha?" I asked blankly.

"I couldn't hear nothin', you dork!" She shouted in my ear. "Can't you understand Japanese?!"

Forget cute.

"YEAH, I CAN!!" I shouted back. "I WAS WONDERING WHAT IN THE LIVIN' HECK YOU MEANT!"

Larka blinked, her face turning red. She was obviously shocked by the fact that I had gotten angry with her. After all... I wasn't usually this aggressive. Even I was a little confused as to why I was acting so annoyed with her. I didn't usually just snap like that.

"If you two are finished, could we please just hurry up?" Oki asked in a growling tone.

I nodded sullenly, pouting. Anger was just swirling around my mind at the moment. Maybe it was just hormones, but I was super pissed at the moment. At Larka for dragging me here and being a freaking biotch, at Yuuki for being a whining little brat, and at Oki for being a stubborn a-hole.

As I passed a tree, I slammed my fist into the side of it, feeling splinters make their way into my skin. It felt oddly nice, though. The whole tree trembled from the intense blow that I had done to it, and bright red blood slowly oozed out of my hand.

"U-um, Jin?" Larka asked, grabbing my arm. "Are you... okay?"

I glared at her with a dead look. Larka--the girl who wasn't afraid of anything besides bugs--took a step back, her eyes wide with fear. My blood was boiling from the sudden, fierce anger that I was feeling towards my comrades. It was as though they were my worst enemies.

"You took me here..." I growled, grabbing the front of Larka's shirt and pulling her close to my face. "This is all your fault, isn't it?!"

"Jin, what are you doing?!" Yuuki demanded, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me off Larka. I merely pushed her back, onto the ground.

"This is between two Gods," I answered, glaring at the stupid girl who dared defy me. "Not between a foolish mortal as yourself. I promise to kill Larka, the Goddess of the Moon, no matter at what cost there happens to be. She... will... die..."

"It's nice to see you, Demon King," Larka answered calmly.

"What?!" I demanded, but, before I could ask anything else, Larka punched me in the stomach, then touched several pressure points around my body. My entire body crumpled up, and I felt to the ground, totally immobilized.

"Planting a Dark Sapling into Jin?" Larka asked loudly into the sky. "Not a good idea. Planting one into me? Fine. Yuuki? I think that we all would have already been dead if ya planted one into her. Oki. That's a maybe. The guy don't show much emotion. Jin, though? Were ya cruisin' for a bruisin' or just tryin' to fill some time?"

"Just trying to make a grand entrance," a voice that I knew all too well said.

My mind tried to tell me that it was wrong, that there was no way in heck that _**HE **_could be here... he was at home, stealing Miuri's lunch... or even kisses from her. There was no way that he could be here, a thousand or more years in the past. It was impossible.

"Looks like Jin fell down on the job," Riku's voice purred.

"Ah... General Riku. So, we meet for the first time," Larka said, glaring. "I heard you went to spy on Jin when I was only five, so this is our first meeting."

I closed my eyes, unwilling... no, unable to hear Riku's voice. He couldn't be here... and from what I had just heard, it sounded like he was on the other team. What could I do? What WOULD I do? I... I couldn't fight Riku! He was my friend...

Riku knelt down beside me and opened my eyes for me, a slight smirk on his face. "Oh? Are you surprised? Things will never be the same, Jinny. I'm here, and your old friend Riku is gone. My number one object in life currently: To kill you for my master. My King. Whether you like it or not."

I wanted my life to end right there.

* * *

Miuri yawned, stretching. She sleepily brushed her hands through her hair, wondering if it would do any good to her hair, anyway. After all, it was two in the morning. It wasn't as though she needed to be anywhere important at the moment... or anywhere until seven, that is.

"What is this stupid indirect proof?" Miuri grumbled. "Stupid idiotic stupid indirect proof... gawsh, I hate indirect proofs. They're friggin' annoying."

Miuri glanced around her room in disinterest. Right now, her mind wasn't really focusing on Geometry or her hair. She was thinking more about the odd things that had happened to her two best friends. Two days ago, Riku disappeared, and five days ago Jin disappeared. She wondered if she was next.

"GAH!" She cried. "I shouldn't think these sorts of things! I ought to just work on my homework! Jin and Riku wouldn't want me fall behind... well, maybe Riku wouldn't care, but I know that Jin would want me to keep up my good grades."

Miuri tried to keep looking at her homework, but worry kept eating away at her like an angry termite near a wooden door. The only thing that even kept her from from falling asleep crying during the night was the fact that she had to keep being happy-go-lucky for everyone. Her family... her other friends... her peers... her teachers... everyone.

Her cell phone started ringing the Tokyo Mew Mew theme song, so she quickly answered it. "Ello? This is Miuri-chan speaking."

"Hello, Miuri-san. This is Light. Detective Light from the United States. Perhaps you have heard of me?"

Miuri gasped and covered her mouth. Detective Light was, like, the most famous guy in all detective work. Riku had, like, twenty million books of his. They were, in fact, the only books that he would read... that, and certain cycling magazines.

"Of course I have! One of my best friends is practically in love with you! He has-"

"Exactly fifty-four books on me or somewhat about me, yes, I know," Detective Light murmured, his voice changed from something he did to it... like a voice-changer or something. "I need to ask you if you know anything about what happened to your friends... Riku and Jin."

"Wh... what do you mean?" Miuri asked, sitting down, her eyes large and more than a little bit fearful.

She hadn't been given too many details, but she knew that whatever happened to them wasn't good. She slowly walked to her bed and sat upon it, pushing her hair nervously back. She was scared for both of them, and if Detective Light was calling her, then...

"You might be in danger as well," Light said, confirming her fears.

"Bu... but why would somebody kidnap me?!" Miuri demanded. "I mean, I'm just a kid who can't even figure out the square root of one-hundred!"

"That doesn't matter, does-" Detective Light began, but was suddenly cut off.

Miuri blinked, confused. Just before she could ask what the f was going on, the room began to shake. Her light flickered, and a huge rumble went throughout the room that sounded like a plane was crashing into her house. Miuri tried to stand up, but then fell back down due to the great force of the, she now supposed, earthquake.

She covered her head, eyes squeezed shut. She couldn't remember a time when she had been so scared. Her chest was coiled up and she couldn't breath because she was so frightened of the earthquake. She almost wished she would die.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was really only seventeen-point-eight seconds long, the rumbling, shaking, and shivering finally came to a halt. Miuri slowly uncovered her head and opened one of her eyes. When she did, it seemed like she was in another world.

Obviously she wasn't in her room. Miuri slowly came up to her knees and looked around the cold, gray room. It was almost like she was in the middle of the gray, gray sky, just floating there. It was slightly cold inside, but not cold enough to really bother her very much.

"We've called you here today to help save the world," a soft voice whispered from her left.

Miuri looked to her left and blinked as she saw a small, yellow-bodied child. Its eyes were a deep red, but not the kind that made you think of blood. Its hair was white and in a pony tail; it also wore a black headband. It wore all black that looked like it was ripped cloth strung together. Its skin was a very pale shade of yellow, almost sickly looking.

"Who the heck're you?!" Miuri demanded, putting her arm in front of her face as though to protect herself from it.

The thing sat down next to her and sighed, closing its eyes. "I... My name is Kyoufu. I'm a demon of sorts, I guess..."

Miuri's eyes widened, then she put her hands over her mouth, trying not to giggle. Although she was certain that she was going insane, she also knew that Kyoufu meant fear, which was something that the little creature was not. It was different, certainly, but not frightening.

"Yeah, yeah," the creature complained. "I'm not scary, I'm kinda cute, blah blah friggin' blah. I get the point already."

"Are you seriously a demon?" Miuri asked. "You just look like a kid with a heck of a lot of make-up on and some colored contacts in. Where'd ya get the costume, anyway?"

Kyoufu frowned at her. "Yeah, I am. Seriously, what is up with these stupid humans from the future? If I'd walked through ancient Japan I'd be dead before sundown, but here I can walk anywhere and everyone thinks I'm a little kid who likes pretending to be a stupid demon. For the Gods' sake, I'm nearly three-hundred years old!"

Miuri stared at the Kyoufu blankly. He was a grumpy little boy... girl... _thing_, wasn't he? Or she... it... whatever.

"Uh huh..." Miuri answered.

"Anyway, I'm the Chief of Alliances in the D. A. K. L. S.," he stated. Miuri stared blankly at him until he answered. "The Demons Against King Lee Society. It's something that I'm in. Sort of like a club that happens to do a lot of mutiny against demons and such..."

"So... you're the C. A. D. A. K. L. S.?" Miuri asked in confusion.

"Sure, why not!" Kyoufu growled. "I don't care by this point! I just need your help! That's why I took you to this alternate in-between dimension!"

"Okay..." Miuri said slowly, deciding to just go with it for now. "So, what do you need my help with?"

"You're friends with the God of Time," Kyoufu answered simply. "You could be helpful to us in our war against King Lee."

"Who's King Lee?"

"He's the king of demons... or, in this case, most of Nippon. He's ruling ancient Japan, and we need the God of Time's help. If we can get you to join our society, then we have a much higher chance of getting the God of Time's help, which would mean that we have a higher chance of winning this war against the filthy pig King Lee."

"Hm..." Miuri muttered. "There's a kid in my class named Lee. Only sometimes he's not here."

"Is he Chinese?" Kyoufu demanded.

"The same," Miuri answered, slightly fearful.

"Damn him!" Kyoufu snapped. "Lee caught on. He'll already have sent one of his cronies... tell me where General Riku is!"

Miuri blinked. "General... Riku? What do you mean? I mean, I know Riku because he's one of my best buddies, but I don't know any "General Earth*" or something like that!"

"All right, all right," Kyoufu muttered. "Sorry I asked. We'll know later. Also, are you going to join or not?"

"Pushy, pushy..." Miuri said, sticking out her tongue at the tiny demon.

"Shut up!" he growled. "I need your help or your world as you know it will be shrouded in eternal darkness and everyone will feel the burning fires of hell! Would you like that girl?! Would you like to always be burning and always feel pain?! Would you like the great Amaterasu to disappear from the whole earth, leaving merely death and despair to rein upon the planet!?"

Miuri stared at him. And stared at him. And stared at him. What was she getting mixed up in?

"I... I don't understand," Miuri said slowly. "So... Jin is the God of Time? And Riku is an evil general? And Lee is the demon king? So... what exactly mean about me? Am I some sort of dragon or something? Or a chicken? I mean, how am I supposed to believe something as ridiculous as this?"

"How d'ya explain me?!" Kyoufu demanded. "I'm a two-foot tall thing with red eyes and an overly pissed tone at you! Stupid!"

"... okay..." Miuri mumbled. "I hit my head... on... I mean, during that earthquake... this is all just a dream, 'kay? I mean, I'll wake up and have a serious migraine/concussion. Oh, and I'll be in the hospital with an IV in me and blood coming out of me in places."

Kyoufu stared at her in disgust. "What the heck is wrong with you!?"

"I have the strangest imagination! That's what Jin always told me, but why couldn't I just not have one... oh, good heavens, what am I supposed to do with myself?" Miuri continued on as though Kyoufu weren't there. "I would really like to wake up now and see what Mom's making for breakfast... oh, yes just wake up, Miuri, just wake-"

"Be quiet!" Kyoufu suddenly cried. "Shh!"

"And why should I?!" Miuri shouted. "Huh?! Gimme-"

Before the fourteen-year-old girl could continue, Kyoufu quickly climbed up her body, sat on her shoulder, and completely covered her mouth, obvious fear in his eyes. Miuri glanced at him and tried to rip his hands away from her mouth in anger. Just before she could keep going, something came that made her blood run chill.

A black beast came from nowhere. It had four long legs that it walked on and it had very greasy black hair that fell all over its body. Around its neck, it had orange glowing triangles. Fearsome yellow fangs dripped with foam and blood-red eyes seeped out from underneath the hair. Its tail was skinny and was patched with hair. Wounds could be seen on it and gray blood dripped from its tail. It was huge, much taller than Miuri. Probably about as tall as a refrigerator.

Miuri screamed as loud as she was able to and the beast turned to look at her. Kyoufu swore a few times before muttering to her, "That's a level six demon, you idiot! It doesn't have good hearing or sight, but it can smell almost anything! By screaming, you just let out air! Now, I have to fight..."

Miuri screamed again as the beast began charging at her. Kyoufu jumped off her, removing his headband. He rushed to the other demon, whose mouth was open wide as though awaiting Kyoufu to run in, then jumped upon its snout. The instant the small demon did so, the larger began thrashing around crazily.

Kyoufu took his headband and wrapped it around the angry demon's snout, which made it thrash about even more. Kyoufu deftly tied it, then quickly made its way to its underbelly. Miuri heard him cuss a few more times about her ancestors before she heard a sickening crunch.

The demon let out a screech that would put a banshee to shame. Its small red eyes suddenly turned huge and its legs seemed so much wobblier. Miuri watched in shock as its eyes glazed over and its dark gray blood spilt as though from a fountain from its chest. It slowly stopped screaming and fell over to its side, obviously dead.

Kyoufu came out from underneath the demon, eyes dark. "Do you see what I mean? This could happen at any time. The only reason why we won is because I am an experienced demon-slayer. We need your help. We need the God of Time's help. Please."

Miuri hesitated, looking down. What would happen to her life? What would she do? How could she help? What was...

No. Miuri had to help. She didn't know what she could do to help, but she didn't want anybody to get hurt. She was athletic. She was semi-smart. She had to find some way to be able to help. Also, this could help her find Jin and Riku. Her friends.

"Okay," she said firmly. "I know that I might die and that I'm just a regular human, but... I don't care. I don't. I want to be able to help these people. I want to find Jin and Riku. I... I'll come with you and get Jin to help. I swear it."

Kyoufu softly smiled in relief. "I'm... happy, Miuri. Thank you."

**A/N- OoO" I did it!! I wroted a chapter! After, like, two months or so, I finally got it done! HOORAY!! I finally got that out of the way... whew...**


	9. Stupid Jealousy

**A/N- Shank you, Serpents Kiss, Catorrina and Godess-Of-The-Weirdos! You rox me sox! (For all of you still reading my crap, check out my website on my author-page-thing! You can see Larka an' Jin an' Yuuki... and... er... yes!) Smile and be happy!  
**

Laying there... gosh... just laying there, I knew I was doomed. I didn't want to die, but at the same time, I did. I wanted my life to end. My secondary best friend was evil.

"Oh, Larka, look in his eyes." General Riku laughed softly. "He looks so hurt by you. I wonder how he'll react to all of the things you haven't told him..."

"Shut up!" Larka snapped.

My mind was whirling. Other things? What other things? And why was Riku evil? What was... what was going on around here!? And what was a Dark Sapling? Some sort of tree?

"When did you plant it in him, demon?" Yuuki asked, taking a step to be in front of me and right next to Larka.

Riku softly chuckled. "Every light has a shadow."

"How could you plant it in right then?!" Oki demanded, bringing out his sword. "The Sun Goddess is too powerful for a little welp like you!"

Riku now laughed openly. "Jin harbors simple love for me, fools! You can't touch me. I still have the God of Time's protection over me. He looks at me as though we're still friends! Which we can be if you come to my side, Jin..."

Oki jumped above Larka and Yuuki's heads and spun around in the air, slicing at Riku. The sword went straight though him. Riku smiled cruelly at them, his hands behind his back.

"It's no use. Don't even try. Larka... Yuuki... Oki... Jin. I'll see you all later. For now, though, you can just play with my little friends," Riku said. He slowly walked away, looking back only once to give Jin a piercing smirk with his bright eyes flashing.

Tears were in my eyes. Tears of anger. Betrayal. I knew what all of this meant.

I couldn't trust anyone. Not Larka. Not Yuuki. Not Oki. Not Riku. Not Issun. Not Amaterasu. Not Waka. Not Dravis. No one... not one person.

They would all just betray me. All of my family at home. I was... I would have to be alone.

"Stop..." I whispered angrily.

"What?" Larka asked, glancing down at me.

This time I screamed it. "Stop!"

Time stopped. Just... just as I had hoped it would. I was a God. I... I should have been able to do that sort of thing, right?

Ouch. For some reason, knowing that I was... I was hurt. Nothing... or everything. Somehow, I just felt that nothing could penetrate this deep abyss of hurt and darkness. Or, at least, that's kind of what it felt like to me.

I looked up. Huhn. The sky was red. That was new.

For some reason, it felt familiar. Everything. I began walking along, but, by accident, I brushed beside Larka. She took a step back, as though that were what she had been planning on doing before I so rudely stopped time.

I slapped her.

I didn't see any more harm in it. We weren't friends. Not anymore. Not then. Not now. Not in the future.

She quickly touched her cheek, shocked. Slowly, in a wobbly tone I'd never heard this cocky and somewhat rude girl, Larka asked, "Jin... why...?"

"Why?" I repeated. "You're asking me that?"

She took another step back, as though frightened of something. I chose not to react towards her fear of me. I looked away.

"You told me when we first met that if I was quiet, I'd learn what was going on around here," I said softly. "You told me that. I... I still remember it. But now... you're just another person in my life. Just when I start to trust someone... they turn their back on me. Just like you."

"Jin-" Larka began, but I cut her off.

"Maybe if you're quiet, you can learn something," I hissed to her. "Just like I did."

Larka grew silent. "I heard, once, that the good guys always win. Well, I'm not sure if I'm a good guy by this point. I'm not sure if there really is such a thing as a good guy anymore. So... so I don't think that I'm going to be on anyone's team. I don't need the pressure. From now on, I'm looking out for one person: me."

Just as I began walking away, Larka grabbed my arm. I blinked and turned to her in confusion.

"The true mind can weather all lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed. From beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light," Larka said, her eyes fierce. "That's the first thing I can remember that you told me. You don't remember it, but it's true."

That shocked me. On one day, it shocked me that I would ever say anything that deep. On the other hand, it shocked me that I couldn't remember it. It sounded so familiar. I must have used it a lot.

"Larka..." I began, but this time she cut me off.

"Not another word!" She snapped. "We need you Jin! We all need you! Even if you don't need us. We... we need you." Her eyes were soft and her voice was now sincere.

For some reason, my heart started beating wildly. Whoa... what was this?! No... I'd felt this once before... and...

I swore out loud, saying some things that weren't appropriate to say in front of a lady... or children... or most elderly folk. In fact, it might have been better if I hadn't said it at all.

Larka slapped me. I didn't blame.

"Want me to feed you some soap?" She asked in a snarling voice.

I shook my head. No. Soap was icky.

"Jin, just start time again, okay?" She said, flicking some pieces of hair out of her eyes.

I looked away. "I don't really feel like it."

"Jin...!" She growled.

"You don't control me," I said simply. "And, sure, I need to save the world and all, but... you have to promise me to tell me what's going on." I turned to her, clenching my fists. "Do you swear that you'll tell me as much as you know?"

Slowly, Larka nodded. "I promise... but to tell you everything, I'll need someone else to be here. Someone who was there when the war began."

"Start," I said easily.

The instant I did so, time started again. Yuuki blinked and looked around. She saw Larka and I standing close together... very close together. I easily blushed and took a step away from Larka. Yuuki seemed like the type that would spread lots and lots and lots of rumors about us if she got the chance to.

Oddly enough, she just looked down. She sighed, muttered something under her breath, then said firmly, now looking up, "Don't stop time like that, Jin. It's hard to keep track of."

I tilted my head. "Huhn? Whaddaya mean?"

"Life," she answered.

Before I could ask her what the crap she meant, Oki said, "Shush. I can sense... demons. Something's coming this way."

"Fudge," I said easily.

I don't really know why, but saying things like "Stop" and "Start" and "Fudge" were starting to seem something less and less like they were out of a manga, and more and more like it was real. Like, I was finally accepting my place in the universe.

I winced. Dang it. I was accepting this was real. I couldn't say that it wasn't real anymore.

As I was contemplating my pathetic excuse that some called my life, I got hit in the back of the head. And it hurt. And it was the flat side of the sword. Which hurt. But was kind of lucky. In a weird way...

"Jin, pay attention," Larka said, her wolf ears perking up.

"Unagi..." I mumbled.

"Is he dreaming about eel?" Oki asked blankly.

"Who knows?" Yuuki replied. "He's stupid enough to."

Well, at that moment, two blurs of something came in front of us. A girl and a boy. Obviously twins. They looked to be about nine or ten... and they looked a little scary, gonna be honest.

I, slowly and wobbly, stood up. "Who're you?" I managed.

"Koutou," said the girl.

"Kyoutou," said the boy.

I stared blankly. They had kind of stupid names. I mean, what kind of names were "United" and "High class"?

"I've heard of them through only rumors," Oki said, his red eyes within his mask gently glowing with a slight fury. "They are twins who, twenty-five years ago, were granted everlasting life if they promised to serve King Lee forever. They have not attacked my village, much to my great pleasure."

Yuuki stared at him. "Selfish, much?"

"Prepare yourselves..." Koutou said, getting in a ninja-like stance.

"For death," Kyoutou finished, copying his sister's stance.

"I can't fight them!" Yuuki announced, sitting down.

Larka stared at her.

"She can only fight demons, remember?" I stated.

"Whatever," Larka replied. She closed her eyes and she began to glow. Slowly, she was visible again, but only as a wolf.

Kyoutou brought out a ribbon and handed one end to his sister, while holding onto the other end firmly. Larka growled something in wolf, but I don't really speak wolf, so I have no clue what she said. I think I caught something about Dravis. Pfft. Figures.

In human, Larka growled, "Don't be jealous because you don't have a boyfriend, Jin."

I blushed angrilly. "That's not what I-"

I ducked. I wasn't really sure why I ducked, but some higher instinct told me to. When I got back up, I glanced at a tree that was near me. There was the ribbon, and it was strangling the tree. Right where my head had been.

"Well..." I said blankly.

"Nice reaction time, idiot," Yuuki said. I glanced at her. She was meditating. Great timing, Yuuki.

"He dodged..." Koutou began.

"Our ribbon," Kyoutou finished. "I wonder..."

"How he did it," murmured Koutou.

"That's creepy," Oki stated.

I stared at him. It was odd for him to say something that didn't have to do with honor and all of that jazz. He sounded sort of like someone I knew. Someone I... was it... did he remind me of-

I didn't get time to finish my thought because Koutou and Kyoutou were both throwing punches at me fast. I think I'd be a hamburger being served at WacDonald's if it weren't for me being the God of Time and being able to dodge these sorts of things. Sometimes I'm thankful that Lady Luck loves me.

I grabbed Koutou's arm, but Kyoutou grabbed mine. I kicked Kyoutou in the leg, but Koutou did the same. Finally, I grabbed both of their arms and threw them as far as I could. They landed right next to Yuuki, who didn't react.

"What's with these kids?!" I demanded Oki.

"They are also known as the Mirror Children," Oki said. "That is why we didn't go after them. They copy their opponents moves, but they do it against their opponent. They have their own moves as well. They know almost anything."

"That would have been useful to know..." I mumbled.

"Just shut up and fight!" Larka growled.

Right after Larka said this, a rock hit each of the twins on the head. Both copied eachother by falling down, which almost made me laugh. Until I saw who jumped from the tree.

"What up?" Dravis asked, jumping down from his special little tree.

"Hey, Drav," Larka said.

He gave a quick grin. "You wanted something? I mean, besides for me to take out these goonies..."

I don't really know why, but he pissed me off. The moment I saw him, I folded my arms and clutched them tightly, little scratches forming from my untrimmed fingernails. My eyes narrowed and a little frown captured my mouth.

I turned away from him, trying to calm myself down. Okay, so maybe I liked Larka a little bit. But that didn't mean that I should be this jealous.

"Oi," Larka growled. "Why are you blocking off your mind again, doofus?"

Before I could answer, those annoying twins decided to drop by. They, by catching me off guard, wrapped another ribbon around me. I said a cuss word quickly, glaring at the Mirror Children.

"Don't be..." Kyoutou began.

"So stupid," Koutou finished.

Although they couldn't see it, I flipped them off.

Dravis took a step forward, his one eye that I could see as cool as ice. "Hey. I don't think you should do that."

"Says..." Koutou said.

"Who?" Kyoutou asked.

"Dravis," he replied, sticking a hand in his pocket. "Part of a special society. It's called D. A. K. L. S. Have you ever heard of it?"

I guess they had, because Koutou screeched and Kyoutou glared at Dravis like he had some sort of plague. He smirked, as though he were enjoying every moment of this.

"Thank you," he said simply, mockingly bowing deeply. "Thank you very much."

Odd. He seemed... like he was a different person than when I first met him. It was like in about a week he had changed himself completely. Maybe he was bi-polar...?

I shrugged off this thought. Larka was smart. She wouldn't date a bi-polar guy.

"We should..." Kyoutou said.

"Kill it..." Koutou said.

"The master..." Kyoutou said.

"Would be pleased..." Koutou said.

"Or find out where..." Kyoutou began.

"They came from," Koutou finished for her brother.

"Hmph," Dravis snorted. "How rude."

He began to transform, just like Larka did, but darkness surrounded him when he transformed. When I could see him again, he was a wolf. No, no, not a wolf. A demon-wolf. Because, you see, Dravis had wings. Black, silky-looking wings that seemed to have some sort of blood-stain on them.

Dravis snapped at the Mirror Children, who took a step back at the same time. For some reason, looking at Dravis as a fully-realized demon... it sent chills up and down my spine. Because I knew what he could accomplish. I knew that, if he became angry, he could destroy anything... or anyone for that matter.

"Don't you ever touch these people again..." he growled. "Never!"

Kyoutou stepped in front of his sister. This made me blink. They were seperate. No longer acting as a single person... a single being.

Whatever it was about Dravis had scared them enough to let their guard down and become two small children again. Was this "D. A. K. L. S." really that scary?

"Level six demon," Kyoutou stated. "Power: sixty-eight. Pitiful. Are you the best they can send?"

He gave them a chilling smile. "Koutou didn't speak just now, did she?"

Kyoutou blinked. He opened his mouth, then closed it. He glanced at his sister, as though begging her to follow. She tried to, but it wasn't as simeltanious as it had been.

"What did you do...?" Koutou asked fearfully. "We have been together for twenty-five years. How are we seperate?"

"I have friends," Dravis said mysteriously.

"The president!" Kyoutou cried suddenly. "The president of the D. A. K. L. S. is here! I can feel it..."

"It's here?" Koutou asked in surprise.

"Level ten demon," Kyoutou stated. "Power: one hundred. It could kill us."

"Flee for now," Dravis said, a slight smirk on his wolfish face. "And don't you come back."

The children did just that. Okay, so, call me totally out of it or whatever, but I had no idea why they were so scared of the "D. A. K. L. S." or whatever. It sounded like a stupid club to me. After all, there were tons of clubs at our schools...

Another thing that was bothering me besides the whole D. A. K. L. S. thing was that nobody was bothering to get me out of these ribbons. I guess nobody cared enough about me. Ouch.

Dravis turned towards me, his face calm, with a hint of a smile. "We had a new member join a few days ago that you might be interested in."

"Who?" I asked, a slight frown on my face again.

"A girl your age. One of the very few people who join who aren't demons..." Dravis said.

"Who?!" I demanded.

"A girl named Miuri," he said simply.

"...! WHAT?!"

* * *

Miuri looked up, pushing a few locks of hair out of her eyes. "It's funny. Japan's so small, but this is still my first time coming to Mount Fuji..."

Kyoufu stared at her. "Are you serious?"

Miuri gave a little smile. "Yup! And it's also weird because I'm here with a weird little demon-thing in the past. Kinda weird, huh?"

"Stop saying weird," Kyoufu stated, his eyes slightly glowing.

"We'll only be here for a little while, right?" Miuri asked, watching the small demon searching for the entrance. "Because that's what you said before."

"Nngh," he answered, wrinkling his nose.

"What?" Miuri asked.

"I found the entrance, but it stinks like the entrance to hell... and trust me, that place is horrible."

"You swear a lot, huh?" Miuri asked.

"No!" Kyoufu exclaimed, sounding mortifyed.

"Yes!" Miuri replied. "You called lots of people butts and told them to go to heck and... and...!"

Kyoufu had grabbed Miuri's chest. Her face turned bright red and she slapped him.

"Pervert!" She cried, face still red.

"I was hoping it would shut you up," Kyoufu replied. "I mean, first you talk about Riku and how much you love him, then you start about the God of Time, telling about how he was always book-smart, but never had any friends, and now you're talking about the scenery... don't you know how to shut up?!"

Miuri blushed again, and folded her arms over her chest. They had just met about five hours ago. She wasn't sure if he was a molester or something...

Kyoufu walked through one of the rocks, much to Miuri's amazement. She had been told that he would do it, but... it was still amazing that he could! Kyoufu came out, grabbed her wrist, (which forced her to bend over because he was so short...) and pulled her through the rock.

There is no easy way to describe that feeling, but Miuri didn't want to ever go through a rock again. The next moment she could, she was thoroughly sick in a corner.

"Right, I forgot that you were a human," Kyoufu muttered. "Humans are more fragile than demons, so you are more easily sucumbed to the rock sickness that you can gain. It's rather odd that demons rule hell, but humans rule the earth which is so much larger... we're more powerful and yet we have oh so much less land. I should think that it would be quite the opposite, but-"

"Now you're blabbing!" Miuri cried.

Kyoufu gently coughed. "Anyway, this is the D. A. K. L. S. hideout. Welcome, new member Miuri. Welcome."

It was a huge cavern made from pure crystals. Everywhere you looked, some sort of glittering object was around, whether it was the walls or the creatures that inhabited it.

"Wow," Miuri said blankly. "Jaw dropping."

"And a good cover," Kyoufu stated. "Most demons hate pretty things, so it's one of the last places King Lee would search for us. Especially since we move every four years and thirty-seven days."

"Where'd ya pull that number from?" Miuri asked.

"The president of our group made it. The president is very smart. And very beautiful," Kyoufu said respectfully.

"And you have a crush on the president," A girl said, a slight smirk on her face.

What was different about this girl, you may ask? She had a perfect body with easy curves. Her hair was white, and she had... well, cat ears and a tail. Manga-girl was the first thing that Miuri thought of when she saw this girl.

"Like you don't," Kyoufu snorted. "You homo!"

"How embarrassingly true," the girl giggled. "By the way, who's this cutie?"

"Her name is Miuri," Kyoufu said shortly. "She's human. Don't damn her by ruining her for marriage."

"Like you haven't!" Miuri cried, folding her arms around her chest and blushing again.

"Aw, did that meanie do something to you?" The girl purred. "I'm Neko-Ya. Don't hesitate to ask me anything..."

Miuri blushed. She was pretty sure that Neko-Ya would ask for something in return... something like Miuri's virginity.

"Um..." she began, but, once again, Kyoufu stepped in.

"Okay, Neko-Ya, don't you have some other girls who can't go to heaven to screw around with?" He asked firmly. "Or do I have to bring the president into this matter? After all, doing something as such is against the rules of the D. A. K. L. S."

Neko-Ya stuck her tongue out. "Boring piece of crap," she said, walking away.

"So..." Miuri said slowly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Who exactly is the president of this super-special club or whatever?"

Quite suddenly, the whole room went quiet. Miuri heard padding of someone's feet from across the room echoed against the walls. Slowly, people moved out of the way for someone or something that Miuri couldn't quite see.

Finally, she saw it.

A wolf. A wolf that looked like it had been stitched together a hundred different times in a hundred different places. Its eyes glowed softly in the semi-dim light of the cave.

"That is our President Nokori," Kyoufu said softly. "One of the last demon-wolves."

**A/N- I REPEAT: Lookit my homepage! It leads to my deviantART page, where you can see all of these characters! It's important! Also, don't forget to review! REVIEW!!  
**


	10. Flashybacky

**A/N- Nobody reviewed! RUDER!!! You're all pieces of poopy!  
**

**Disclaimer- This would be a Japanese anime by now if I owned it.**

"Okay," I stated easily, eyes narrowed at Dravis. "Start talking. How do you know Miuri?"

Dravis shrugged. "She came to the past with a friend of mine named Kyoufu about two and a half weeks ago, just before you did. I met her, and she seemed nice. However, she was very determined to find you and help you. You seem to mean a lot to her, but I can't for the life of me figure out why."

I glared at him, then blushed slightly. Miuri was worried enough about me to come to the past?

Okay, so we've been best friends since I was three. So what? I mean, I know that is a while, but I kind of expected her not to remember me for some reason. I thought that she would have forgotten me by now. I really thought that people didn't think of me as that big of a deal. However, I guess I was...

Yuuki walked up to me and touched the rope that was binding me... **_still_**. Some certain people didn't believe in releasing me.

"These are tight knots," Yuuki stated.

Larka came over to look, a frown on her face. "Those Mirror Brats or whatever they're called really know how to tie you up. How're we supposed to untie this stupid thing?"

Oki silently came over, and began fiddling with the knot. For some reason, it felt kind of... familiar, I guess? Like I'd done this before with Oki. What was that called? Deja vu, wasn't it? But... there was a difference. I don't really know how to explain it.

"Hey..." I began slowly. "Dravis... what is this D. A. K. L. S.? I mean, I know that they're trying to help me and all, but..."

Dravis hesitated, then took a deep breath. "It all began just before the War of Nippon and Time began..."

* * *

_At that time, there was peace in Nippon. In Hell, it wasn't quite that peaceful, but there was no war. Back then, King Lee was merely Prince Lee. He followed in his father's steps like a duckling after it's mother. He was a quiet boy, but everyone knew he was hiding something._

_I had just started dating Larka. She was only thirteen in human years. But I was still in love with her terribly._

_One day, when we were just hanging out, Larka practicing on the guitar and me just watching and listening, we heard a loud knock on the door. At that time, Waka was out taking care of some business in the capital, so we were home alone._

_It was Oki. He told us that Waka couldn't come, but something bad was happening. Hashigami, his girlfriend of sorts since Amaterasu left him, had left to help take care of business upon Mount Fuji. _

_Oki told us that King Karasak, the Lord of Demons at that time, was dead. Murdered. Some people said, later, that he was murdered by his own son, Prince Lee. I now agree. _

_Prince Lee was to become king that next week. However, Waka had a vision that he would lead the land to despair, death, and eternal flames. Oki said that he was now praying, no **begging**, the Gods to not allow Prince Lee to become king._

_Larka grabbed my hand and said that we should find the God of Time to end the time of Prince Lee. Before I could agree, Oki said that Waka and Rosco had both said that we should find Hashigami because in Waka's vision, she had disappeared, not to come back. And, at the moment, Hashigami was heavy with child.  
_

_We agreed to go to Mount Fuji first, mainly because Larka had a slight crush on Oki._

_Along the way, we were going through some woods. Inside the woods, there was a wolf. I wasn't sure, but I thought it might be a Ghost Wolf, a type of demon that transcends time. They're a type of demon that exists, but doesn't really. I'm not exactly sure how to describe them._

_But I knew that they had left this world. They had done it to achieve spiritual peace of sorts. So I couldn't really believe it._

_The wolf stood in our way. Its eyes seemed to flash all sorts of colors. Out of pure instinct, I grabbed Larka's arm. I wasn't sure if we could trust the... Ghost Wolf, I suppose._

_A voice rung inside my head: **Be not at fear. I am what you see.**_

_I told Larka that it was a Ghost Wolf. A Ghost Wolf of the lost tribe of demons, here in the mortal realm._

_I asked it why._

_The wolf turned away and began slowly walking. After about ten feet, it looked back at us, awaiting for us to follow. I had a strong sense that we should._

_We followed the wolf, who took us further and further from the edge of the forest in which we traveling in. Larka asked me where we were going, and if we should really trust her (I figured out that the Ghost Wolf was a female by this point). I wasn't quite sure how to answer._

_The wolf quite suddenly stopped, and stared at us, wisdom deep in her eyes. I heard a soft noise._

_Both Larka and I turned around. A man stood there, wearing a white yukata. He had black hair that fell down just to his knees. He held a long staff in his hand. Something about him felt kind, protecting, soft... fatherly. Something I'd never felt._

_There was also a sense that I'd only felt a few times before. The feeling of a god._

_"I am Izanagi, the God of Creation," he said. There was a power in voice that demanded respect but also gave love at the same time. _

_Larka bowed before him, getting on her knees. "Lord," she said softly. I followed the suit._

_"Arise," he said simply. "For I have much to say, and so little time. I must first say that the God of Time is gone."_

_Larka quickly stood up, her eyes wide. "What?! What do you mean?!"_

_"Kouin has always been selfish," Izanagi said softly. "So he left. He made __O-Kuni-Nushi change him in the way that he would no longer have his memories. He then changed himself into a child, just after he went to the future. He wished to... to become a better person."_

_"What a fool," Larka said angrily._

_"He is, Samsara-Tsuki-Yami," Izanagi agreed softly. "And now we need him. However, another thing that is needed in which to save this world from destruction. You must raise an army for the God of Time so that he may be ready for almost anything. So that he may be ready to destroy King Lee."_

_"Who can help us, though, Kami-sama?" I asked. "We must find Hashigami."_

_"Hashigami is well, but she is for another battle," Izanagi said sternly. "For now, you must help my servant, Nokori, to create an army. To create something to go against King Lee, lest the gods fall."_

_Larka looked down at her hands. "Lord of all... we will do our best with Nokori."_

_The Ghost Wolf, Nokori as she was called, gently nuzzled me. She looked up towards me, her eyes saying what she wanted._

_A true rebellion.  
_

_

* * *

_Dravis shook his head, sighing. "We've been organizing your army ever since, Jin."

I stared at him for a moment before shouting, "What?! I-I-I am supposed to control an army?! By the wishes of Izanagi?! Does the world have a death wish or something?!"

"Jin," Yuuki said in annoyance. "Stop moving around. Oki can't untie you if you're running around like an idiot."

I slowly sat down, sighing. "I'm sorry, I... I just don't understand. How am I, the most stupid and weird person in the world, supposed to save the world? I can barely make my own breakfast. There has to be some sort of error."

Larka shook her head. "This is why I call you a dork. Because you don't know what you're capable of. You give up before you start. We all know you can do it, but you don't know. You're so stupid."

I felt my cheeks redden.

"Hey, Larka, isn't there food that we need to get? Looks like you're all out," he stated.

"We should hunt," Oki said, sounding tired. "My hands hurt from doing this for so long. And it's made of divine string, which is impossible to break. I'll have to try again later."

I sighed and nodded. I could understand that.

However... I was suddenly wishing that I had listened to my dad when he started going off about our Shinto religion and about how it was important to keep our Japanese heritage sacred and not to listen to my mom's Catholic ways.

I weakly laughed to myself. I was such a stupid teenager.

Larka, Dravis, and Oki quickly left, especially after Oki's stomach growled loudly... leaving me alone with Yuuki.

"So..." I said slowly. "How're you today?"

"Um..." she replied simply.

Being alone with girls was never good for me. I've only ever been good alone with my mom, my two sisters, and Miuri. To me, this was pure torture. I absolutely hated being alone with girls. The only thing that I hated more than that was school.

"Jin..." Yuuki said softly.

"Er, yes?" I answered.

"I was just wondering, but... do you like Larka? Like, more than a friend?" she asked.

Okay, if my face was a tomato, it would be pale in comparison to how red my face was at that moment. "Wh-wh-what?!" I demanded. "Of course not! She's just a-"

Yuuki was staring at me. "She doesn't like you back."

"Ouch. You could at least be nicer if you're gonna say something like that," I mumbled in annoyance.

"So you do like her," Yuuki stated.

I blushed again and pushed back a few stray hairs. How was I supposed to reply to something like that?! It was like when Miuri asked me if I still used a nightlight when we started our first year in junior high... not that I do now.

"It's okay," Yuuki said. "I'm not going to tell anybody. I'm not that sort of person. I'm just a little... sad, I guess."

I looked up at her in confusion. "Huh?"

Yuuki stood up and said, "I'm sad that you're going to get your heart broken so fiercly. It seems like it will really hurt you."

* * *

Riku looked towards the sunset, his white hair floating around in the wind. He played with a rock, occassionally glancing over the wrecked city that would later be named Tokyo.

"Do they... remember us?" he asked the man who was sitting next to him softly. "Does anyone?"

Amatsu Mikaboshi looked towards him. Riku couldn't see his face but he knew that there was an answer there. And that answer was yes, and that everyone missed them. But he shouldn't dwell on it too much, lest he become lost in the light.

Riku shrugged.

Amatsu pressed his black hand to the boy's hand. His face told the story that said that Riku shouldn't fall into the grasp of Benzaiten.

"I won't," Riku insisted.

Amatsu disagreed. His inward love for Jin was too great.

"I don't love Jin," Riku stated in annoyance. "I want to kill him."

Amatsu said that he would cry in secret every day if he killed Jin. And, less than a year later, he would join Jin. He needed to find an escape route from Benzaiten.

"I don't need to escape because I'm not wrought down by her," Riku growled. "That diety has no control over me."

Amatsu said it was common to feel this way.

By this point, Riku just looked away. He wasn't going to argue with the God of Evil over a peddling topic like whether he was in love with Jin or not. It was a silly topic, and Riku was defintely _not _in love with his worst enemy.

He blushed as he thought about the possibility of it. Certainly, this sort of thing happened in manga quite often enough, but it didn't happen in real life.

Suddenly, an image of Jin smiling came into Riku's mind. Once again, Riku blushed.

He couldn't help his feelings, after all.

* * *

_I touched the knife at my side table gently. Smooth steel. It flashed in the dim light gently._

_I picked up the small knife finally and began slowly making my way to the door, where General Riku stood. His long white was tied into a ponytail, and his eyes were light-green and cool at the moment, reflecting his feelings. Although, as a demon, he could appear any way he wished, he preferred to look like he was twenty-five or thirty._

_"General," I said softly, handing him the knife._

_He nodded, and his eyes turned from green to an amber color. I knew that meant he had mixed emotions about doing this._

_"You can do it," I said easily. "I know you can. Just try your best for me."_

_He nodded. I took his hand slowly._

_"Remember, you are my spy against the God of Time. I trust you. But don't be too close to him," I said softly. "Because you are mine. You are my toy. You are my friend. You are my bodyguard. You are mine, and you are not his. Just remember that much at least."_

_General Riku nodded._

_

* * *

_

Lee smirked at the memory. It was rather funny, really. How much he had liked Riku back then. He was still a toy now, but differently. More like a pawn in the game of chess.

He glanced around the empty throne room. It was going to be a dull day, wasn't it?

It had been exactly eleven days since Jin first came to the past. Eleven days, two hours, twenty-three minutes, and fifty-four seconds. Oh, yes, King Lee of the Demons was keeping very good track of the time since Jin had come in.

And, since Miuri had come in, it had been seventeen days, eighteen hours, six minutes, and ten seconds. Since Riku had come in, well, Lee wasn't keeping that good of track.

Lee stood up, his black hair falling into his eyes. "Amatsu Mikaboshi. Come out, O Lord."

The black cloaked God appeared from the shadows. His red eyes and face that was in the shadows said many things... like how he questioned the loyalty of Riku. Riku was loyal at the moment, but... but later he could become the fatal point of Lee.

Lee nodded. "Anything else?"

Amatsu looked away. He went to the shadows. He had nothing left to say.

"Remember to contact Amida for me, yes?" Lee murmured. "With Jin being almost powerless, the God of Death is very powerful at the moment. Time doesn't rule at the moment."

Amatsu didn't answer, but he did disappear.

Lee sat back down upon his throne. He smirked slightly, resting his head upon his fist. "Gods are so fickle."

"Sire!" A small demon suddenly cried, bursting into the room. "Sire!"

"It's proper to bow to your king," King Lee stated out of boredom.

The demon gave a quick bow. "Sire! We found out where the D. A. K. L. S. is hiding!"

One of the King's eyebrows rose. "Really? I could use some good news."

"They've been hiding in Mount Fuji this whole time," the small demon cried.

"They will have the protection of Sengen-Sama there, clever little brats," he growled. "We can't touch that holy place."

"Humans," the small demon said, as though reading King Lee's mind.

King Lee smiled cruely and nodded. "Yes. Humans. Send the message to Riku."

"Wha-what exactly...?" the demon asked nervously.

"That his girlfriend has been found," Lee answered. "And that we're going to kill her."

**A/N- Review... and I have a feeling that some clarification will be needed.**

**Shinto: the religion in which Amaterasu and the other gods exist.**

**Izanagi: the God of Creation in the Shinto religion.**

**Samsara-Tsuki-Yami- Samsara means reborn. Tsuki-Yami is the God of the Moon. So Larka is the God of the Moon reborn.**

**Kami-sama: Translates to god.**

**Hashigami: McKayla's god. Can translate to Chopsticks-God, although that's not what she's god of.**

**Amatsu Mikaboshi: The God of Evil.**

**Riku and Lee...?: It was common in this era for a boy to look up to a man and have them become... lovers of sorts. And this is the relationship between Lee and Riku at the time.**

**Riku and Jin...?: Will not come to pass. They're too different. I only am putting it in because if I didn't the story would be different.**

**Sengen-sama: Sengen-sama is the Goddess of Mount Fuji. She protects it.  
**


	11. Um, My Powers Kinda Suck

**A/N- OMIGOSH, thank you!! I finally got some reviewers! iWish909, thank you, and ITS MCKAYLA ()! I betcha can't tell who wrote the second review, huhn?**

**Disclaimer- I own Jin and Yuuki, and that is it, but I still own Jin and Yuuki. They're cuties. Wait, no, not really. They're not cute.**

My life had certainly taken a twist in the past two weeks or so. I fell in like with a girl who couldn't like me because she was already in love with someone, found out I was a god, had to deal with a girl who now had blackmail that could be used against me at any given point, and... and...

And then there was that whole "The world's fate rests upon your shoulders" thing that I happened to be dealing with.

... do you have to deal with this crap?

I glanced at Oki. He was walking in front of the rest of us, occasionally touching the point of his sword. He seemed tense, as though he expected something to jump out at him any moment. He noticed me staring at him... I think.

Darned mask.

Oki motioned for me to come up towards him. "Do you know of any lovers that Amaterasu had before Waka...?" he murmured, sounding almost nervous.

I was slightly surprised at this. He hadn't mentioned Amaterasu for quite a while. And when he did, it wasn't in such a soft and loving tone. I immediately sensed that this wasn't the sort of conversation that I should share with anybody.

"Weren't you one?" I asked quietly.

"Yes," he answered softly, looking slightly away.. "She... never told me if she had a child. I think she cared more for Waka than for me."

I felt kinda bad for the guy. I mean, from what I've heard, after Amaterasu falls in love with a guy, she has... _that _with them. So I guess he didn't really know if he had a son or not. And now, Hashigami was gone, too... he was having a crappy love-life.

I was about to reply when Oki suddenly stopped. I blinked and looked over to him. He was looking forward. I slowly looked forward and sucked in a breath quickly.

Ashes. That's all that lay in front of us.

"This was my home," I heard Oki hiss.

Oki, Larka, and Dravis had been talking about how this would be a refuge in these dark times during the past few days. Somewhere that we could go and just... enjoy ourselves. Regain strength to fight the demons, and make my army.

The Oina village was no more.

"Larka..." I heard Yuuki whimper. "What... what will we do now?"

Larka didn't respond to her, but she quickly asked Oki, "Where would your people hide in a time like this? In a time that death is everywhere?"

"They... have never left here. We thought we would always be safe. I... I should not have left. I should have stayed here. I should have protected my people as long as I could..." Oki whispered, falling to his knees. "But... they're all gone, now. What should I do? What?"

I heard some words from Dravis that I knew would be painful if I repeated. Larka sat down, glaring at the ground. Oki just stared forward, where his home had once been. Yuuki was staring at me.

"What?" I asked her.

"What do we do?" she asked, barely louder than a whisper.

Okay, I was stumped, too. I frowned and looked upward. What to do now... what to do...

I blinked. Something felt...

* * *

_The girl looked at us, her black hair all but chopped off. Her eyes showed so much more than they should have. Blood scurried down her arms like rats through sewers._

_"You were buried in ash," I whispered, choking._

_She nodded, looking away. _

_"Where's your Mommy?" Yuuki asked._

_Tears formed in the girl's eyes and Larka looked shocked. "Please..." Larka whispered. "Do... don't remember any more! Please...!"_

_The girl sat back down to where she had been buried before and said a simple sentence. "I wish you hadn't found me so I could be with her."_

_

* * *

_I instantly blinked. Whoa... what was...

I shook my head. There was no time for this. I had to help that girl... that little girl...

I strode off towards the place in my... er... "vision" of sorts, I suppose. Yuuki closely followed me, grabbing my arm.

I glanced at her, semi-surprised. Yuuki must have been pretty upset by this. I wasn't sure why she was so sad and angry by this, though. I mean, we were all upset, but she seemed to be upped only by Oki, who actually knew people in this village.

I knelt down in front of the ash pile that I knew the girl was buried under. "What are you doing, dork?" I heard Larka asked.

I glanced up at her in annoyance, then started pushing away the ash. Just to let you know, if I had a choice, I wouldn't be here, right now, digging through ash to find a girl who wishes that I wouldn't save her. Just to let ya know.

I found her arm and hand first. I slowly removed her from the ash. The girl opened her eyes slowly.

The girl looked at us, her black hair all but chopped off. Her eyes showed so much more than they should have. Blood scurried down her arms like rats through sewers.

"You were buried in ash," I whispered, choking.

She nodded, looking away.

"Where's your Mommy?" Yuuki asked.

Tears formed in the girl's eyes and Larka looked shocked. "Please..." Larka whispered. "Do... don't remember any more! Please...!"

The girl sat back down to where she had been buried before and said a simple sentence. "I wish you hadn't found me so I could be with her."

"Just like my vision..." I whispered softly.

Larka stared at me. "What was that, dork number one?"

"I kinda... saw all this happen, somehow. I don't really know how, but I did. I really wish that what she said wasn't true, though..." I sighed.

Larka stared at me some more. Yuuki didn't say anything, but slowly stood up. The girl quite suddenly grabbed my hand, her eyes wide. Happiness shook her weak body like a toddler shakes a doll. Was something... wrong? Or right?

"You're the God of Time," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly.

"Um..." I began.

"What the..." Dravis said, coming over with Oki. "Oh. A kid."

The girl had her arms tightly locked around my neck, nuzzling into my shoulder. I don't know if this was normal behavior for kids in this day and age or if it was just because I was the God of Time, but it kind of weirded me out.

"Mikan?" Oki asked blankly.

The girl looked up and smiled at him broadly. "Uncle!" Afterwards, she began nuzzling me again.

"Um... you know her?" I asked.

Oki nodded. I could have sworn I saw a tear roll off his chin, but I wasn't ever really sure. Dravis glanced at the two girls who were still giving me weird looks and slowly backing away and gave me a questioning glance. I shrugged.

"What's up?" Dravis asked, folding his arms.

"He had a sudden increase in both stability and ability," Larka stated. "His powers have gone to that of a priest of himself to that of one of his children. It's not natural since we don't have the stone that he locked all of his abilities in."

"Um, what?" I asked.

Yuuki knelt down next to me and said, very slowly like I was two, "Your powers went up. You don't have the stone you had Amaterasu lock your powers in. We are confused."

I glared at her.

Mikan, the little girl, asked, "Kami-sama, can I call you big brother?"

I blushed. "Um, I'd rather have you call me that than "kami-sama," so yes..."

She giggled happily, hugging me even tighter. "Big brother is so cool!"

"Do you mind if I call you little sister, then?" I asked. Mikan smiled joyfully at me and nodded.

"So..." Dravis said. "What happened?"

Mikan squirmed and looked away. "He's scary," she whispered to me. "He's a lot like those people who were after me."

"Who were they?" I asked. "Will you tell me what happened?"

She nodded seriously. "I would do anything for big brother.

"It's really hard to remember for some reason, but I remember some really bad people where after me. Mommy called them demons or something like that. It was scary because they took us out of our homes and burned it to the ground. I couldn't get my puppy, either...

"Then they took Daddy and a lot of other men and put them in the ashes. Then they stomped all over them. Then they took the rest of us and buried us. I was scared. I thought that I would be squished under those really fat ones.

"Only then... Mommy came on top of me. And..." Mikan looked down. "They stomped and ate all of the people."

I felt my jaw drop. Yuuki covered her mouth with her hand and Larka grabbed Dravis's hand. Oki gently touched Mikan's cheek where a trail of water was coming down. I then gripped then young girl tightly, feeling more rage towards the demons than ever for hurting this innocent and fragile little girl.

"Don't worry," I whispered into her ear. "I'll... I'll make everything better, I swear I will, little sister."

She sniffed softly, holding onto me. I pulled back slowly and looked over to Yuuki. "Can we check out her wounds? We need to make Mikan feel better."

Yuuki knelt down next to the young girl and gently pulled up her sleeves. Three gashes, two on her right arm on one on her left, were upon the young girl's shoulder. Blackened old blood crusted them, and Mikan looked pale from all of the blood loss.

"Larka," Yuuki said quickly. "I need you to get my medical suplies, and fast."

I expected Larka to growl, scowl, groan, and maybe even get violent, but she just nodded and quickly walked back to where we had set our packs down, much to my surprise. Dravis watched her go, seeming slightly surprised himself. I guessed that this didn't happen often.

Yuuki rolled Mikan's skirt to her knees. It looked like, on her left leg, part of her leg had been hacked off. Even though it had been hours, maybe even a day since she had gained it, the deep and thick wound still blood as though it were fresh.

She touched near it, and Mikan cried out. "I promise that I'll make it all better soon," Yuuki soothed the girl. "I promise."

As Yuuki slowly began applying herbs of sorts to the wound, Mikan sobbed into me, "Big brother! Big brother, it really really hurts! Can't you do something, big brother?"

I wanted to do something terribly bad, but, even with my godly powers, I felt as though there was nothing I could do to help little Mikan. I almost wanted to scream at Yuuki to quit it, but I knew that would only lead to even more despair.

The small girl sobbed into me. It felt as though someone where sticking needles into me slowly, seeing how much I could stand before I blew up. And, boy oh boy, I was a volcano that was scheduled to blow up any minute now.

Quite suddenly, I grabbed Yuuki's wrist. She blinked and looked up at me.

"Don't," I said in a tone that made her bring her hand back. I brought my focus to Mikan. "I'm going to make the hurt go away, okay?"

She looked at me with wide dark eyes, but still nodded. I gently laid her onto the ground after she nodded, very carefully. I wasn't sure really what I was going to do, and it felt like some other greater and more powerful part of me was taking over. It was the same feeling that I'd had when I had that vision.

I touched the probably-six-year-old's toes. I breathed in and out. I brought my arms up her legs, over her skirt and up to her torso. Yuuki gasped, but it sounded faint, as though she were miles away at the moment that she gasped.

"Time," I said softly. "Shorten for her."

And, all of the sudden, I wasn't looking at a six-year-old, I was looking at a girl probably my own age. She _looked_ like Mikan, but she also looked fifteen.

"You... changed her age," Larka gulped.

That was the last thing that I heard before I passed out.

* * *

I was in that glade again. The one that I had been in two weeks ago... but it felt so much longer.

Amaterasu smiled softly at me. "Jin... you used too much of your powers."

"I don't know how to control it," I admitted. "Today I seem powerful, but I still feel weak. I need to learn to somehow control my powers, Amaterasu."

She nodded. "Yes. You do. You, Larka, Yuuki and Dravis must find your Lost Temple."

"My Lost Temple?" I asked.

"It is where you hid your powers, Jin," she said. "You will be able to control them easily if you do this."

"Amaterasu..." I said hesitantly. "I was wondering... about Oki... did you have a kid with him?"

She looked down, and I could have sworn that she was blushing. "I... I'm sorry, Jin, but I cannot tell you that right now. It's a rather awkward thing for me. But... I did. I will not say where this child is, who they were, or anything, but... My child is doing well."

I hesitated before asking, "I'm not allowed to tell Oki, am I?"

She shook her head. "No. I... Tell him that I'm sorry that I left so quickly."

I nodded. I would tell him that... whatever the crap it meant. It wasn't my place to ask, though, so I didn't.

"Jin, the days will start going by faster," Amaterasu said softly. "And I know that in just over a year's time, you will face the Demon King. I would like to say that I know that you will win, but... but I do not, so I cannot say so. Do your best at everything, whenever you can."

"I'll start today," I said simply.

Amaterasu walked over to me and gently touched my cheek. Her golden eyes were soft and beautiful... like... like... like Yuuki's.

"Be careful," Amaterasu said softly. "And find your Celestial Envoy soon. Time is running out."

I smiled, rather painfully. "I hope that it's not since I'm time."

"Your master awaits you," Amaterasu said, turning from me. "Good bye, Jin..."

* * *

I could hear Larka panting next to me and I sat up, then fell back down from being so dizzy. Mental note: do not sit up like some sort of lunatic after having a long talk with the Sun Goddess about some things that I might not want to share. Or when I happen to use too much power.

"Oh," Larka said quietly. "Did I wake you up with my screaming?"

"Huh?" I asked blankly. "Uh... no."

I glanced over at Larka. She was hugging her knees, looking towards the ground. Something was bothering her. And it wasn't just that I woke up in the middle of the night and she thought it was due to her "screaming" when I had no idea that she had even been screaming whatsoever.

"... I'm scared," she admitted softly. "About the future."

I laughed weakly. "I'm the one who can see the future, Larka, but doesn't know anything about it. I'm the past, present, and future, but I still don't know what's going on around me. Do you know how frustrating that is for me? And how scary it is?"

"Do you miss your little sister?" Larka asked.

I was taken back by this sudden question. I hesitated before saying, "I used to. But... now I know that she's not even really my sister. It's really sad for me to think about it. My old life, I mean. Sometimes... I can't even remember what my mom's face looked like. And that's scary."

"Sometimes... I feel really bad, Jin," Larka stated. "I mean, I took you away from your family... your friends... from everything that you knew."

I blinked and blushed slightly. I was grateful for the cover of night. Larka, after all, had never really expressed her emotions like this to me. It made me embarrassed... and a little happy because this meant that she probably trusted me.

"It's okay... they'd all be dead by now if you hadn't," I replied simply.

Larka looked upward and said, "You know, I'm kind of jealous of you."

I blinked. "Huh?"

"You've seen my mom a lot in the past few weeks, but I haven't seen her since before the beginning of this war. And, you know, I'm her daughter and all. But... Jin, do you know what you are to her?" she asked me.

"I... I don't-" I began.

"Larka, Jin, I know you're having a heart-to-heart and all, but shut up! I am so freaking tired," Yuuki mumbled.

"Seriously..." Dravis mumbled.

Oki just snored loudly. And they thought we were being loud... what the heck...?!

I slowly closed my eyes. Sleep was overcoming and overwhelming my senses... until... I couldn't... ngggg...

* * *

Yuuki watched Jin, her golden eyes flashing in the darkness. It was becoming a sleepless night for everyone. She just couldn't stop thinking about what she felt... about how she felt.

Yuuki absently began nibbling on a strand of hair as she blushed softly. Thinking about how she felt about Jin always made her blush. She hadn't felt like this since she had met him all those times in her dreams. All of those times he looked like he was eighteen or so.

"I've been in love with him since I was eleven..." Yuuki mumbled softly, blushing again. "Jin... you're so dang stupid."

Jin stirred softly in his sleep and took a deep breath. Yuuki watched his chest rise and fall. She glanced at herself and saw that she had automatically began breathing at the same time as him. She blushed again and tried to make herself breath normally.

Yuuki glanced over to Larka and whispered, "Why can't you break his heart, Larka? I know you're awake, and I know you know how Jin feels about you. So... why can't you break his heart?"

"I just can't," was Larka's short reply.

Yuuki looked down, pouting. She wished that Larka would break his heart oh so desperately. Maybe he would remember how much he said he loved her.

Yuuki glanced at the sleeping teen and sighed before laying down. "You're such an idiot, Jin..."

**A/N- Ha ha ha... if you people don't start reviewing, I'll start writing it and sending it to McKayla only. I'm not kidding you. If I don't get my daily dosage of reviews, I get TICKED OFF. So, unless you want this story to have a very ubrupt end, then review. **

**And trust me, the end I'll write for this will suck and King Lee will win.**


	12. Ya Know, Emotions Suck Sometimes

**A/N- I realized that reviews are just something. I love writing, and I love getting it out into the world. So I don't care anymore. Reviewers are appreciated, but not necessary.**

**Still, thank you McKayla. I couldn't see how obsessed I was being until now.**

**Disclaimer: Several things to disclaim, now. Okami, of course, Send the Pain Below by Chevelle, One Step Closer by Linkin Park, I Caught Myself by Paramore, Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, and, lastly, Passion by Utada Hikaru-sama.**

"Rggghhh! You are such an idiot, Larka!!" Yuuki shouted in the other girl's face.

"Idiot?! Idiot?! Look who's talking!" Larka shouted, kicking Yuuki in the shin.

"Ow! Oh, it is _so _on now, you son of a-" Yuuki began, but I covered my ears before she could finish.

Mental note: those two need their sleep or they'll be even more evil than usual in the morning. I tried to calm them down earlier that day, but it backfired. Now I had a new bruise, and a renewed annoyance at these two girls who were finally getting along yesterday.

"Big brother..." Mikan said softly, hugging my arm. "Why do they keep fighting like that? Why can't they be happy...?"

She had no idea how many times I asked myself that.

Even though Mikan was fifteen now, she still seemed like a child at heart. She still hugged me a lot and called me "big brother" which wasn't quite as sweet and innocent as before. Another interesting thing: her hair went all the way down to her knees now. She had turned into a beautiful young woman, but I harbored no real feelings for her.

"Would you guys shut the freaking crappy heck up!?" Dravis demanded, standing up suddenly. "I'm hungry and Yuuki's the only one who knows how to cook around here!"

I felt slightly offended, being that I knew how to cook.

"Besides Mr. Gay," Dravis continued, noticing my hurt look. "But he sucks at it, so it doesn't count."

Ouch. I felt loved.

Yuuki pouted in annoyance at him. "Is that really the only reason why you want us to stop fighting, because that's a really stupid reason."

"Don't call my boyfriend stupid!" Larka snapped.

"I didn't call him stupid, I called his reasoning stupid!" Yuuki growled. "And besides, you and Jin are the only really stupid ones here!"

"Oh," Larka said, a smirk suddenly on her face. "Is that really how you feel about Jin?"

Yuuki blushed and growled, looking like she was about to punch the living daylights out of her. That was the point that Oki stepped in, grabbing Yuuki's arm and Larka's arm. His red eyes glowed beneath his mask in anger. I scooted back about five centimeters, even though the glare wasn't directed at me.

"Enough," he growled. "You two have work to do with the God of Time. You must find his sacred and lost temple, or everyone will be destroyed. Do you two bickering chickens understand that? Cluck once if you do, and just go pecking at each other again if you're too stupid to understand what I'm talking about. Well? Tell me!"

"... Fine," Larka muttered.

Yuuki just nodded, looking terrified.

"Thank you, Oki," I said carefully. Mikan squeezed my arm.

Oki let the two girls go and nodded once at me. Larka walked over to Dravis and began softly whispering something to him. Yuuki started making breakfast. No one would look at me. To be honest, it kind of bugged me that they were ignoring me.

"Why the crap are you people ignoring me?!" I demanded, standing up. "What is going on? It's felt tense since I first made Mikan into a fifteen-year-old!"

Mikan grabbed my hand silently, standing up. Everyone turned to stare at Larka, then me, then Larka, then me... Larka glared at me with ferocity, her blue eyes flashing. I'm not really sure how, but I managed to hold up my own glare. Finally, she sighed.

"Oki needs to head over to the D. A. K. L. S. while we need to get to your temple. Jin, we need to split up into two groups. We talked about it while you had fainted," Larka said, looking downwards. "And, well, to be honest, I think that we're all a little frightened by your sudden and rapid growth."

"So you're scared that I'm growing?" I asked dubiously.

"Yes," Larka answered. "And it's no laughing matter, Jin. This is very serious. If your growth goes out of control, you could die."

I gulped.

"Exactly," she answered, folding her arms. "Jin, you need to balance your powers. We stayed here because we were worried that you could evolve even more, resulting in your permanent leaving. Now that we know you're not going to learn any more... well, we need to get a move on. Oki needs to find a way to protect more innocent people, and we need to find a way to get you to healthily evolve."

I sighed and nodded. "I see. I guess... it was just odd. Nobody would talk to me but Mikan."

"Get used to it," Dravis muttered. "There will come a time when that's an actual good thing, believe it or not."

I nodded again. "I hope so."

"I'm going to be taking Mikan because she needs to learn to fight," Oki said shortly.

Once again, I nodded. "Take good care of her, whenever you leave exactly. I feel kind of protective over her for some reason."

"We're leaving really soon, big brother," Mikan said, sounding like a little girl again. "Tonight. That way we can get to Mount Fuji really fast. I'll miss you, but we'll see each other again."

I patted her head.

"Yes, yes, this is such a touching and heart-warming experience," Yuuki said sarcastically. "I think that I might start bawling, in fact."

"What's with you?" I asked.

She glared at me and walked off a little, but didn't answer. "Okay, I think she's angry at me," I said.

"Duh de le jour," Larka said, rolling her eyes.

"... and that means?" I asked blankly.

"Duh of the day, stupid," Larka said, rolling her eyes even more. "You're so dumb. She's been glaring at you all day and you haven't noticed?"

I stared blankly at Larka. "... she was?"

"I'm going to go find some herbs that I'm running low on," Yuuki announced. "Oki, would you mind coming with me? No? Come on. Something smells foul, don't you agree? I..." As she dragged Oki, her voice faded into the distance. I felt like she was about to say some things about me that I'd rather she didn't.

I stared after her. "You know, I don't get girls."

"Join the club," Dravis muttered.

"I"m going to see if I can talk any sense into that girl," Larka stated. "And Dravis wanted to talk to Jin alone anyway, so come on, Mikan..."

"But-but-but..." she began. "Um..."

"Well," was all I could say as I watched Larka drag off Mikan. Lots of people seemed to be getting dragged off today.

"I wanted to talk to you about Larka," Dravis said, standing up.

I blinked. "Er, what?"

His eyes flashed at me. "I know you like her, Jin, and so does Larka. And she likes you fine and well, but I don't think that it would be wise to continue this relationship with her, if you get my feel. It wouldn't be good for anyone in Nippon."

Chills went up and down my spine. If you had seen the look he gave me and heard the tones of his voice, you would understand.

"I... I wasn't planning on it, Dravis," I said hesitantly. "I... I know that... that she doesn't like me... so... it really wasn't my fault. I'm..."

"Don't speak," he snapped at me. "Now listen here, Jin, I don't want you to look at her like that, think of her like that, or do anything like that. You may not know why she could never like her, but I do. And trust me, it made me disgusted with you. You are the sickest person I've ever known."

Those words made me want to throw up.

However, they also made me rather curious as to why Larka could never like me, besides the fact that she already had a boyfriend.

* * *

"Are you seriously jealous of me?" Larka asked Yuuki, who froze up.

"No," she said stiffly.

Larka groaned. "Hurgh... you and Jin are so alike it's not even funny. Both of you guys are so danged stubborn. Sometimes I wish that you would disappear so I wouldn't have to deal with this sort of crap. I don't need some friggin' drama in my life."

"What drama?!" Yuuki cried. "Honestly, Larka, I don't know what you're-"

"Jin'll come around eventually," Larka muttered in annoyance. "I know that he's able to know a lot when it comes to books, but socially... well, animals could be mating and he wouldn't get it."

Yuuki looked down. "I know I shouldn't be bringing up my love affairs at a time like this, but... I can't help it. I feel so jealous of you. You are really pretty, Larka, and... well, I've pretty much got me and my boobs. That's it. But you've got all sorts of junk on you... I feel like nothing compared to you."

"But I can kick butt and don't like boys that try to sweet me up," Larka stated. "We're so different, Yuuki, that it's stupid. But we need to get along. Everyone does. We're all on the same side."

Yuuki sighed and looked upwards. "I know, I know. I shouldn't do this. I should be nice and stuff. But..."

"I know," Larka mumbled. "I make it hard. I'm trying to quit the habit of screaming at everybody, even when they don't do anything."

"Yeah..." Yuuki winced. "You kind of do."

"I think that we both need to get our heads out of the clouds, Yuuki," Larka said. "Just for a little while. Jin needs to feel at home... or at field. Whatever works."

Yuuki giggled. "Actually, he's in the forest right now, so..."

"Either way," Larka said, sobering up. "We need to quit acting like children for a while."

"I get what you're saying," Yuuki said. "I mean, Jin's probably going crazy from everything that he keeps learning every day. He doesn't need me worrying him."

"Exactly," Larka confirmed.

"Yes, thank you, I know, I'm lovely," Yuuki said, giving a little bow after standing up.

"Oh, sit down," Larka said, blushing slightly.

"Are you embarrassed?" Yuuki asked, plopping down next to the other fourteen-year-old. "There's a new one. Shocker, really."

"Shut up!" Larka growled.

"I-" Yuuki began, but Oki interrupted, coming up with Mikan a little way's behind him.

"Hey, I found some shiso..." Oki stated, giving Yuuki a handful.

"Thanks, Oki," Yuuki said, smiling brightly at him. Mikan sat down next to them, panting.

"So many weird plants!" she cried. "I can't tell one from the other... I almost poisoned myself, like, twenty times today!"

Yuuki laughed. "When we meet up again, do you want me to teach you about different plants? I learned when I was, like, two from my dad."

"Your father?" Oki questioned.

"Yeah..." Yuuki said slowly, looking upwards. "My dad taught me. He was the priest of the Shrine of Time before me. The traditions of the people of Time were passed down from him to me after a bad raid on our little village of Harusato. When he... when he left us."

"You lived in Harusato?" Oki asked, eyes widening.

"Yes," Yuuki said. "Before the Shrine of Time moved somewhere else before anyone could hurt it."

"You are of the Oina tribe?" Oki sounded more confused than ever.

"Yeah..." Yuuki said slowly. "I am. I can't turn into a wolf, but... you know. I've got my mighty priestess powers and stuff. I'll be good, so don't you worry..." Yuuki grinned and stood up, giving him a big wink.

"Oh, sit down, Yuu, we've got more important things to do. We've gotta get back to Jin and Dravis," Larka said.

"Oh, Oki. Why were you wondering where I was from?" Yuuki asked. "Is something up with it?"

Oki obviously wasn't sure how to reply to this because they might be related.

* * *

Ethan frowned. Not at his Trigonometry worksheet like he should have been frowning at, but at the drawing he was doing. Something about the wolf was missing. Sure, it was beautiful and had many interesting things about it, but...

"Ethan!" the sixteen-year-old blinked and looked up, bringing his drawing up to his chest in fright. Ms. Joline, the meanest math teacher in the WORLD, was glaring down at him.

"Er... yes?" he asked. "Ma'am?"

"What were you drawing?" she asked in that sugar-sweet tone of her's that meant you were dangerously close to being suspended.

"A... a wolf," Ethan hesitantly answered.

"Do you want me to put it up on the board so everyone can see it jolly-well?" she asked, leaning over close to Ethan's face.

"N-no, Ms. Joline, that's fine," he answered quickly. "Because, you see... this-"

"I don't care about your stupid excuses!" she snapped at me. "Let me guess! I can tell you! You had a dream that you were special in a very special way, didn't you? From that Japanese anime French guy again, huh? Right? No? Yes? I don't care! Suspended! Get out of my class!"

Ethan quickly picked up my coat and backpack while she yelled at him, "If I hear that you didn't go to the office again, I will make sure you don't have a future in any classes or colleges!"

He winced. That wasn't good. If he didn't get a good education, then...

Ethan dragged his feet to the office. His mom would be so POed if she found out that he had gotten kicked out of school again... This was the third time this year. And the worst part, it was only the fifth of September. If he kept this up, there was no way he'd live to tell a day by the end of the semester.

Ethan took out his iPod, sighing. He put it on random and Supermassive Black Hole by Muse started playing at seventy-five percent in his ears. Finally, just before Ethan managed to reach to office, he glanced at his artwork of the wolf.

He tilted his head, giving a little smile. "Jin," he decided. "That's you're name, wolfy. Jin. I'll put you up on deviantART tonight."

Twelve-thousand six-hundred twenty-eight hits was Ethan's last check on his homepage on deviantART. People enjoyed his art, and he enjoyed their comments. That's all there was to it.

Lately, odd things had been happening to Ethan. He had been not sleeping at all, or, if he had happened to sleep, he dreamt about a strange man in clothes that looked like they belonged in a circus. And yet... Ethan somehow knew that he was a prophets of sorts.

The dreams were all the same. While Ethan stood a ways away, the strange man would play a soft and sad melody, then reach out his hand to Ethan. Ethan would reach for it, then fall into a black hole that appeared out of nowhere, and disappear into the nothingness. He always woke up in the middle of the night with sweat all over his body and feeling less rested than if he hadn't slept.

Ethan took out one of his buds as he stepped inside the office. He glanced around and frowned. Nobody was in. Weird.

The song switched to Handlebars by Flobots and Ethan blinked. He hadn't touched it and it was in his hands, while it had been in his back jeans pocket a minute ago. The screen remained dark.

"Piece of crap," Ethan mumbled, but he still didn't understand why it was in his hand. He knew he hadn't taken it out of his pocket.

Send the Pain Below by Chevelle. One Step Closer by Linkin Park. I Caught Myself by Paramore. It kept switching and switching around until it got to the point where it ran out of songs. Then it went on to the iTunes store and started stealing all of those songs.

"What is this?!" Ethan demanded, pulling his other bud out of his ear and trying to turn his iPod off. "Load of crap!"

The songs kept going in his heads. Any song that you could find in his mind, you could find it on iTunes. Any song in the world was suddenly playing within Ethan's mind.

Finally, after the songs started going at light-speed, it stopped on one. Ethan was half-Japanese, so he knew some Japanese, but... but...

It all flowed when it was in song form.

When I remember back far, far

The future was forever shining

Below the pretty blue sky

We were only frightened a little

This window is stained with sorely missed colors

If I keep on looking forward

Will I meet you again?

Because the future really continues on forever

Underneath a large sign

I want to watch time change

Towards the people, the places

I will never see again

I open this window

When I remember back far, far

The future was forever shining

Below the pretty blue sky

We slept endlessly

In Ethan Satoya's mind, he heard one thing for certain:

_You have awakened_

**A/N- Who is this Ethan kid?! What does he wants?! What is he doing here?! What does he have to do with Red Dreams, anyway?!**

**Bah, HUMBUG!! LIKE I'LL TELL YOU!!**

**...**

**.....**

**..**

**.......**

**.....**

**Pwease review.  
**


	13. Other People

**A/N- Funny. I thought I already started this chapter. I finally beat Okami, as well! McKayla-chan told me everything I knew about Okami, and now I know EVERYTHING!! YYYYYAAAAYYY!!  
**

**Disclaimer- Okami~~~ it is not owned by me~~~! RA RAA RAAAA!! AND NIETHER ARE DA JAPANESE SONGS IN HERE!!! YEEEAAAHHHHYYYY!!!  
**

"Is it true? Is it true?" Mai asked, grabbing Ai's arm.

"Eh? What?" Ai asked, although she already knew the answer.

"That your brother's case is being looked at by Detective Light?" Hana asked, taking Ai's other arm.

The eleven-year-looked down, then hesitantly nodded. Both girls began chattering loudly in her ears. Ai tried her best to ignore them.

It wasn't like they were trying to be mean. It was just that... that... no one except people who had lost family members really understood what she was going through. Mai and Hana just thought that it was a bad thing that her big brother was gone.

Ai wished they would understand.

She sighed. They kind of thought that life was like a game... carefree, innocent, and simple. But Ai knew that it wasn't quite that simple. It was not a game.

"Ne, Ai," Hana said, "Have fun on the train!"

See what Ai meant? All these two ever thought about was fun. Maybe... maybe if something bad happened to them, they would understand why she had been so... quiet, she supposed, for the past month or so. As Ai thought this, she gripped her arm tighter.

Her life hadn't been "easy" since Jin had disappeared. She was constantly questioned and annoyed and bothered. It seemed that people couldn't leave her alone.

Jin... her big brother. Her wonderful, sweet, patient, slightly perverted, piano-playing, rock-loving, tall big brother. The boy that had allowed her to bother him, that had always helped with homework, helped her get through the loss of their mother. He was... he was the greater brother a girl could hope for.

She looked forward, with a sudden renewed happiness that the train station was only about one hundred yards from her elementary school. She then stuffed her hands in her pockets, the early September chill already beginning to set in.

The young girl boarded the train, which was full of people. There wasn't a single place to sit down at, but Ai wasn't surprised. After all, Japan was a rather full place in the world.

Ai held on to a hook that hung from the cieling and slowly took out her iPod from her backpack. She quickly stuffed the buds into her ears and, almost immediately, Namida no Iro by ℃-ute began playing in her ears somewhat loudly.

Ai looked up into nothingness. "Color of Tears"... it was a somewhat fiting title. Even though it was a love song, it still was sad. It still made her miss Jin terribly. It still made her press the skip button because she didn't want to cry.

... and then Tokaikko Junjou came on.

Ai pouted at her iPod. She loved ℃-ute. She thought they were great. But they were starting to get on her nerves.

Ai skipped the song and came to HEART STATION, by Utada Hikaru. There was no way she could evade depressing songs, it seemed. Ai resigned herself to her fate and looked outside, watching the city speed by. Funny. When Utada did this video, it looked... like this.

On a day battered with unforgiving cold rain  
There sits a couple who have reasoned everything out  
In a car that now relies on the radio to pierce the silence

Well, at least it wasn't raining at that moment. Sure, it was overcast, but...

And something also bad? Jin was her big brother. What was with the "romantic" music?

There is no meaning to goodbye  
Because if we were to meet again someday  
Wouldn't that be just wonderful?

The train stopped and some people got off. Ai allowed other people to take a seat that could have easily been her own. She watched them silently as the words floated through her mind.

Utada's clear and beautiful voice pierced her very soul.

Were you able to hear my voice as I spoke?  
The Heart Station broadcasting at one o'clock in the dead of night  
Requires no tuning on the dial as it lies  
On a secret frequency

Well, her iPod did seem to have a mind of its own now. And it was getting late.

Were the radio waves of my heart able to reach you?  
It's broadcasting from the Heart Station of sinners  
And only God knows  
How much I miss you

Almost all of this was true. Was her love and great missing from her heart able to reach him? Every night she would send him a secret wish to come home. She had prayed for him every night, to the Shinto gods, to God, and to Buddha. Every night.

And no one knew how much she missed him except for the one above. God knew, but He wouldn't help the eleven-year-old.

Despite her trying, Ai felt a hot tear roll down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, begging her eyes not to release any more water works until, at least, she was at home and on her bed where she could sob all that she liked and it wouldn't make a difference.

I can't go on without forgetting you,  
That's how it seems at least... But why is it then  
That only all the good memories of us remain?

Ai realized at the moment that Utada said it that she couldn't remember any bad times. She could only remember the times with Jin that were good. The times when he'd grin and pat her head. When he'd smile at her. The times when he would teach her notes on the piano.

She could only remember his warm smile.

Without a doubt, though I've separated from you, you're right here...  
Right here at the center of my heart

Did Utada always know someone's soul like this? All of his or her pain? All of his or her hurt? Did Utada know?

Was she... some sort of angel, sent to help people with their problems? Because, to Ai, it was certainly feeling like it right then.

I felt like I heard your voice back there  
Coming from the Heart Station that broadcasts at 1 in the night.  
Wherever I am, there always seems to be  
This beating of two pulses

Two pulses? Like knowing someone was alive... but not knowing where they truly were? A love that could transend space and time?

A love that felt like more than the feelings between a brother and sister? Like the bond between God and his children? The great love that one can't feel without knowing that the person is out there somewhere, smiling for you?

Because Ai now knew that feeling.

Were the radio signals of my heart able to get to you?  
It broadcasts from the Heart Station of lovers  
And tonight's requests also flood in with myriads of  
"I Love You"

Lover? Um, no. It wasn't like that.

But... she did love Jin.

This voice of mine, were you able to hear it?  
It's broadcasting in the small hours of the night from that Heart Station...  
Even now, we are still connected  
On this secret frequency

It just occured to Ai that her compartment was almost empty, except for her and one man. He was tall and wore a hood. But... but... that slight smile on his face, the simple slacks, the gray sweatshirt. It was all him. All... all...

Ai could only cover her mouth and allow the tears to start following. She managed out, "Ji... Jin..."

Were you able to receive these transmissions from my heart?  
They come from the Heart Station of sinners  
And only God knows.... this secret I keep.

The man stood up. It was obviously Jin, but... he was older. Like, mid-twenties. He pulled off his hood and gave her and awkward smile and wave. Ai merely stood there, staring at her older brother.

"Ai..." he said softly. "I guess... hey."

"How... how did you get older?" Ai began, trying to make her voice work again. "And... Jin... how did you get here?"

"I'm not the Jin of this time," he said, grabbing a hook. "I'm a different, Jin, I guess. I'm Jin from the future. I'm, uh, twenty-four there. So, that's like..." He scratched his head, frowning. "Like, almost ten years, right? Ugh, I'm not good at math and this is just addition..."

"What do you mean?" Ai asked.

"Well, I bombed math for three years straight in junior high and-" Future Jin began, but Ai cut him off.

"No, no, I meant how did you get here? Did they make time-traveling things? And where's the present you? Even Detective Light can't find you," Ai said, tugging on his sleeve, her large dark red (almost black) eyes pleading.

"I'm always impressed when I heard that Detective Light was looking for me," Jin stated.

"Stop screwing around!" Ai snapped. "You've been gone for more than a month and then you suddenly decide to show up from the future?! I have been sobbing my eyes out ever night, missing you like crazy and you don't care! Jin, just tell me where you are!"

Ai began sobbing into her older brother's arm, shaking. Jin brought his arm around the eleven-year-old and pulled her tightly to him. Ai sat there for a moment, clutching his sweatshirt tightly and keeping her eyes tightly shut.

"I'm in the past, Ai," he said softly. "I have to save the world."

"Why?" she asked. "Why... why do you of all people have to save the world, Jin?"

"Because... I know you won't believe what I am, Ai, but I need to tell you anyway," Jin said, taking a deep breath afterwords. "I'm not really your big brother. I wasn't born unto your dad. Or your mom. I'm... I'm the God of Time."

Ai stared into his shirt, unbelieving. The young adult chuckled softly. "I know. I didn't believe it until I could stop time, tell the future, see when people were born, when they'll die, and when I could see the future. When I found out that I could win."

"Do... you win?" Ai asked into him.

"In my time I do," Jin replied. "But it's split. I might win. I might lose. I come from a peaceful time, but... don't be too hopeful about the future."

For a moment, they were both silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the noises of the train, Jin's soft breathing, and occassional noises from the ear buds that Ai had taken out of her ears and were now hanging a centimeter above the ground.

"Who knows besides me?" Ai suddenly asked.

"Your dad," Jin answered, slowly letting go. "And... I don't mean to be mean or make you sob all night, every night, but... but... my wife's waiting for me at home. And, also, your stop is coming up. When you get off this bus, you'll be on another. Just get off that bus, it'll be at your stop."

Ai was confused, but nodded. He gently peeled her from him.

"I love you, Ai. You are the best fake little sister a guy could ask for," Jin said earnestly, hands on her shoulders.

Ai sniffed and nodded. "Jin... I'll miss you. But... in your time, you have a family, huh? A new family. All that stuff. So... can you please tell your family that I hope they're very happy. Really. No sarcasm or anything. Jin, be good to them..."

Jin nodded and the train stopped. He turned from Ai. "Yeah, I'll tell Yuuki that... G'bye."

And then he was gone, just like that.

Ai turned quickly and went out the other door, hasty in case it would close on her. It felt odd stepping back into the real world. Ironic, even. She pushed past the crowds, even while thinking this, and managed to get out the door onto her platform.

She hesitated before deciding to run home to ask her father if she was crazy, or if all this was true.

* * *

"What?" he asked, looking up from his work.

Ai sighed before repeating to her father, "Is Jin really my brother?"

Her father hesitated, pushed up his glasses, and said, rather loudly, "Go get Yume and Michiru. No, not you, Mr. Hayaru... my daughter. Yes. No. No, I need to go. I have to call you back. Yes. No, the online conference will happen tomorrow. Okay. Ai, go get your siblings."

Ai nodded quickly and left. Yume and Michiru were both on the couch, watching, as they did every time Michiru came home, Death Note. They both looked up at the same time. Ai pursed her lips, then bit the bottom one. Her father was serious about this, wasn't he?

"Um, Dad wants us," Ai said quickly.

"Seriously?" Michiru asked, sitting up while nibbling on some Pocky. "But I have to pack so I can get back to Tokyo, and we're almost to the part where L dies!"

"It's about Jin," Ai then said quietly. Michiru and Yume both stood up silently and followed her to their father's room. The middle-aged man was putting away his laptop when they walked in, and he quickly motioned for them to sit on his bed.

"Ai asked me something I thought I'd never hear out of her lips," he began hesitantly. "I wished it wouldn't come out of anyone's lips, actually. But... since it did, I guess I ought to tell you. Since Ai's old enough to ask, that means you're all old enough to hear."

"Hear what?" Michiru asked in confusion.

"Jin isn't related to any of us," Ai's father said softly. "Your mother found him when he was a baby."

"A baby?" Yume questioned, unbelieving.

"Yes. With Jin, there was a scroll... a very old scroll, it seemed. It told his story. Where he was born, when, everything..." Their father sighed. "After he was born, I started drilling the Shinto religion into you guys for a reason. I wanted you to know about his past."

"What do you mean?" Michiru asked blankly.

"Jin... his real name is unknown. He is most well-known by the name of Kouin."

"Father time," Yume repeated, seeming even more unbelieving than before. "Dad, you're being ridiculous. That's not real."

"Jin is a God," their father insisted. "Ai... you believe me, don't you?"

Ai looked up. Her silence was starting to be unnerving to the family. "Yes."

"What?!" Yume demanded, standing up. "Ai, how can you be so stupid?! None of this crap is true! Dad's just pulling our legs. I don't understand why you can go along with this idiotic thing... this... this thing that insults our memory of Jin! It's pure idiocy!"

Ai stood up and looked into her sister's eyes, and Yume saw that infinite pain. The look in her sister's eyes wasn't the same as two months ago. It was a look of pain, wisdom, understanding, hurt, guilt, and knowledge. Yume took a step back without even realizing it.

"Do you think that I'm an idiot?" Ai asked, her voice dreadfully calm. "Do you think Jin's an idiot? Because I saw him today. I can make him come to me if I really want it. You don't love him nearly as much as I do. And why? Because you still think he's a little boy who can barely take care of himself. But me... I know that he's a God. I know that he's watching patiently over me. I know what he is. I know who he is. Do you, Yume?"

Silence erupted from the room.

* * *

Ethan sat up, rubbing his head. What happened? Where was he? What was going on?

In a gutteral tongue that barely sounded like Japanese, he heard something say, "It woke up. What should we do with it?"

"His Majesty says it doesn't know what it is," another voice replied.

"It?" Ethan managed to question, trying hesitantly to stand up. He shook a little and sat back down. He felt very weak at the moment for some reason.

"Gah! It talks! What do we do?" The first one cried.

"Get an imp to tell King Lee!" The second answered quickly.

"Okay!" The first cried again.

_King Lee...? _Ethan thought dizzily. It sounded vaguely familiar to him. Did he know someone named Lee? Like, in his history class or something...?

"Say there," the second said to Ethan quickly. "Don't move."

Ethan suddenly had a great want to move around and bother the little... whatever it was. And didn't it mention an imp? Did they mean in ranks or... or... an _actual _imp? No, that was silly. There was no such thing as imps.

"I sent one!" The first voice said proudly, getting closer. His footsteps echoed loudly and a soft dripping came from somewhere. Were they, maybe, in some sort of cave of sorts?

"Where am I?" Ethan managed to ask.

The second and first replied at the same time. "The Moon Cave."

The first reacted first. "Ohhh nooo!! We weren't supposed to tell the prisoner that it's in the Moon Cave! We might as well have told it that it's in Shinshu Field, right near Kamiki Village and that King Lee is planning on bringing Orochi back and-"

A noise like a hand smacking a face reached Ethan's ears. "Don't tell it everything! I should kill you!"

The first voice wailed, "Nooooo!! Please!! I wanna livvvveee!"

Ethan listened to this blankly. He was a prisoner? In the Moon Cave? In Shinshu Field? Near Kamiki Village? King Lee was planning on bringing back Orochi? Okay, Ethan was no expert or anything but this sounded a lot like those old myths that his dad told him.

Could he be... in the past?!

**A/N- DUN DUN DUUUUNNNN!! Also, happy more than 40,000 words! 3 This'll be my longest story when I'm finished with it.**


	14. Another Me Is Just Lovely

**A/N- Shank you, spiritofwater! *hugs* :D**

**Disclaimer- Nope. Er. Nope. Still nope. Stop reading this idiocy. Seriously. I'm still not owning it. Oh, shut up.**

I'm not entirely sure why, but I **_REALLY _**don't like Dravis now. Maybe it's because he kept stealing glares at me. Maybe it's because he would constantly be holding Larka's hand. Maybe it's because he's called me a F-er and flipped me the bird about twenty times just today.

He's so easily jealous.

Then again, I suppose that I'm easily jealous too, because every time he did those things I envisioned myself punching the living daylights out of him. We were having a silent battle over Larka, and I kind of wish that she didn't know about it as much as she did.

Yuuki's been a little bit steamed about it too, because she won't cook for us anymore. She just sits next to Larka and glares at us.

I'm not really sure how Larka's been taking our battle because she hasn't said anything. She just kind of acts like it's nonexistent. I think that she might know something about this battle that no one else knows. She keeps acting like she's hiding something... like she's-

"Wake up," Dravis growled, smacking me on the head.

I glared at him and rubbed my head before growling right back at him, "Idiot. Don't you know you shouldn't hit a God?"

"I think I have some rights since you keep moving in on my girlfriend," he replied shortly.

"I haven't put a single move on her for the longest freaking time!" I shouted at him, standing up. "Have you not noticed?! I haven't done a single thing and yet you're acting like I have!"

Dravis gave me the bird again. "You're thinking it, though."

"This is getting ridiculous!" Yuuki cried, standing up. "Both of you need to shut up! Even Larka thinks so!"

"Nn," Larka agreed, looking away.

"She and I have actually been managing to get along for you guys' sake, but we won't get along if you won't! And then this entire plan of "saving the world" and stuff will have to come to a halt because none of us can get along! And do you know how bad that would be?! Very bad! We just want you to shut up and be friends! Larka hates this stupid fighting because she loves both of you! Jin's like a brother and Dravis is, like, her one true love and stuff! So just shut up!"

I stared at Yuuki before saying, at the exact same time as Dravis, "Are we really that bad?"

"Yes!" Yuuki cried, sitting down again. "Now be silent!"

Some words connected in my brain at that moment. Like, love and me and Larka. Sure, it was brotherly love, but still... she still loved me...

I smiled dreamily, going off into space.

... sometimes I wonder, am I stupid? Because that wasn't the best choice I could have made at that moment.

"He's thinking about my girlfriend again!" Dravis shouted, grabbing my arm. "I wanna punch the *beep* out of him! Damn it damn it damn it!"

"Control your mouth, Dravis," Larka said, looking at him flatly.

"Leggo!" I snapped, trying to pull my arm away.

"Like hell I will!" He answered angrily, gripping me even tighter.

"I made things worse, didn't I?" Yuuki groaned.

"Yeah, you should've kept your mouth shut," Larka answered sympathetically. "Good try, though."

"That is it!" I snapped. "Stop!"

And, for an instant, I was extremely grateful for being the God of Time. On the other hand, I was super pissed about pretty much everything. Including myself for getting me into this mess. It was my fault for making my own memories disappear.

I sat down, sighing. The anger I had felt was already started to dissipate just because I didn't have to talk to Dravis.

"What would Mom do...?" I asked myself, resting my chin in my hand. "She wouldn't force love... I know that much. She wouldn't be mean. She..."

I hesitated and said softly, "No. It doesn't matter what she'd do because she's not really my mom."

I had figured this out a while ago. My family that was in the future of this time... it couldn't possibly be my real family. After all, they were humans, mortals even, and I was... I was just me. I mean, I guess, I was a God. The God of Time.

"Maybe I'm stupid is all," I said aloud.

"Yes, we are," I heard someone agree with me from behind. I twisted around quickly and blinked. A guy in a blue and white hakama was standing there.

The scary part wasn't that he was here, it was that he looked exactly like me. Except older. I mean, I am not kidding. He looked so much like me I wondered if there was a weird mirror in front of me or something that showed what you looked like when you were older

"Who the heck're you?" I asked blankly.

"The name's Kouin, but you can call me Jin," he answered, sitting next to me.

"You serious?" I asked blankly.

He knocked on my head playfully. "Hello, I'm the God of Time. Do you keep forgetting that?"

"What're you doing here?" I asked blankly, yet again.

"I wanted to see how everyone was doin'," he said, smiling at nothing. "Dravis sure seems happy."

"As if," I growled, blowing my hair out of my eyes.

"You should cut that," he said.

"So should you," I retorted.

"Ah, touche," Other-me said, smirking.

"So... why are you really here?" I asked, knowing that I couldn't possibly want to see these people ever again after I got out of here. Well, maybe Larka, but she's a special case.

"I wanna tell you 'bout everyone at... home, I guess," he said, slightly frowning. "Like Ai, in particular."

I bit my bottom lip. He wanted to talk about... my other family? I thought that they wouldn't really care that I had disappeared. I mean, if Larka was going to do a full scale kidnapping so that I could become the God that I truly was, I had expected her to clean up her little messes that she happened to make.

Hm, that's a little complicated now that I think about it.

"Ai misses you a lot. And because she loves you so much, she's managed to become in-tuned with the God part of you, so you'll automatically be transported to her anytime that she dearly and truly misses you. This is extremely dangerous," Other-me said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"She basically in match with your brain waves," he stated, shrugging. "You need to talk to her."

"Uh," I said.

"Oh, hey, time's stopped," Other-me said, sounding oh so smart.

Reading sarcasm is hard, so I'll just let you know that right now. Yes, I used sarcasm.

"Better change that," he said, snapping his fingers and making time start again. Dravis stopped yelling, Larka blinked, and Yuuki's face abruptly turned a bright red color that I've only ever seen on strawberries and in some anime.

"Yo," he said. "What up?"

"Who the fu-" Dravis began, looking at him, then me, then him, then me again.

"No need for swearing," Other-me said, making a hand movement like he was zipping something up and giving a little wink. Dravis's face turned red and his mouth was now closed.

"You're kidding me!" Larka moaned. "It was bad enough when there was one Jin around, but now there's gotta be two?! What the heck is up with that!? And what are you doing here, anyway?! I don't need some crackpot like you aro-"

Before Larka could finish her sentance, Other-me's arms were around her. "I missed you, Larka," he said into her hair softly.

"Um, er, can you let go?" Larka asked. I could see that her face was very red.

"Ah, right, yes," Other-me said, blushing slightly and letting go. He gave her a quick bow before saying, "I'm here to... to take Jin to the future for a little while."

"Huh?" Larka asked.

"His- my- our little sort of sister has because somewhat a nuisance!" Other-me announced. "Ai is making my life as a parent harder as well because I keep screwing everything up! I can't take it, and I need other-me to take care of Ai and the rest of our fake family."

"Ung," I stated, confused.

"Ai is making things hard on both ends of the bargain," he stated, folding his arms. "I need to take Jin to the future so he can tell her to quit being so annoying."

"So... are you gonna take me to see Ai?" I asked.

"Duh," Other-me answered.

"Mm-mmph mm," Dravis growled, trying to open his mouth but failing terribly.

"Beautiful poetry, Drav," Other-me said, trying not to laugh. "Please, now tell me about springtime."

I thought Dravis might kill him.

For the first time, Other-me seemed to notice that Yuuki was hiding behind Larka. He walked past Larka, came right up to Yuuki, got in her face, and said with an expressionless face, "I swear, if you keep blushing you're going to turn into a tomato."

Yuuki's face couldn't turn any redder but it certainly tried to. She looked down, biting her bottom lip. All I really wanted to know was what her problem was. Why did she seem so embarrassed by the future me? What the crap was up with that? And the Other-me seemed to... pleased about something.

Dirtily pleased.

I tried not to think about those sorts of things anymore.

"If you don't smile at me, Yuu, I'm gonna have Lar kick you," Other-me said flatly. "Because I can't hurt a lady. I know you know how much it hurts to be kicked by that chick with her freaking metal heeled boots. So smile."

Yuuki smiled slightly, still seeming embarrassed. Other-me, however, seemed satisfied.

"Let's go to the future then, ne?" It wasn't even really a question. It was more of a statement.

"Hold it," Larka growled. "We can't just stop the mission and all. We have to save the world! We can't just take some random detour because you told us to, Jin! We have work to do in the ways of saving the world, whether you like it or not!"

Other-me pouted, then frowned. "Sorry, Lar-Lar, but I'm in charge now. If you wanna save the world, you have to deal with certain people and creatures. King Lee. Riku. And Ai. Ai could become a powerful objection to saving the world. She could change the world, making it blacker because she's so selfish."

"An eleven-year-old?" I asked, frowning. "Make the world darker?"

"Well, sure," Other-me answered. "You're sixteen when you save the world. Larka never changes her age, so she'll always be fourteen. Dravis is forever fifteen. Yuuki's fourteen. Do you have something against that? Because if you do-"

"Mm mm," Dravis mmphed.

"You really should shut up," Larka agreed.

"So are we going to the future, or what?" I asked.

"You have no choice," Other-me stated. "Onward speed!"

Before I lost sense of anything and everything, I realized something very important:

In the future, I was even dorkier than now.

* * *

"My word!" I heard Larka shout in my ear. "Are you deaf!?"

"Huh?" I asked dumbly.

"You're not listening to me," Larka growled. "I just asked you what we're supposed to do. I've never been to your house and the other you abandoned us. Dravis is somewhere else that I don't know because he disappeared somewhere and Yuuki's blushing like she just got her first kiss. I am so freaking lost."

"Nn," I answered.

"You're not helping!" she shouted, shaking me. "Am I the only one with any sense around here?!"

"Leggo," I answered, karate chopping her hand away.

"Where do we go from here?" she demanded.

I frowned. She wasn't letting me take in the fact that I was back. Back to the world I remembered. Back to my... unreal family. Back to my home city of Aomori. Back... home.

"Stop thinking!" Larka growled. "Take me to your house so we can set this Ai girl straight!"

The sky was cloudy so I couldn't tell the exact time. She might have still been in school. So I walked up to a perfect stranger and asked, "Excuse me, but do you know the time?"

The woman blinked and took out her cell phone. "It's just after noon," she told me, then walked away.

"Ai is in school right now," I stated, folding my arms. "We can't just burst in. Everyone is at school or work right now. There would be no point."

"She could be at lunch," Larka stated.

"That's true," I murmured, rubbing my chin. "I know where it is from here, but... shouldn't we be more concerned about finding Dravis? He wasn't here when we got here..."

"He's fine," Larka said, brushing it off. "He gets lost in time travel a lot."

How would she know this... ?

"So guide the way to the elementary school, Jin," Larka said, taking order again. "And make it snappy. I don't want to be here a second longer than I have to be."

I glared at her flatly.

"I'm very confused," Yuuki said softly, following me as I began walking at my own pace to Namiuchi Elementary School just to bother Larka. Which it did. She hit me. Not that fun.

"You ought to be, yukata girl," I said, frowning slightly.

The future. We were finally back. I was. But I still had to save the world.

What an odd feeling, knowing that... I almost wanted to moan and groan that I couldn't stay here forever and just sleep and eat and be a regular teenager.

Stupid being a God-ness.

**A/N- MM, the chapter felt somewhat random and very short. I've been planning it for a while, but I thought it would come up later. And when it came up, it would be better than this load of crap that I'm reading over. Bah, humbug. At least it's funny.  
**


	15. The Present Time is Confusing

**A/N- THANK YOU, CATORRINA-CHAN FOR REVIEWING.  
**

**Disclaimer- My birthday's coming up. Not sure what that has to do with Okami, but my birthday's coming up.**

"The one with the short hair and heart hair clips?" Larka asked. "That's her?"

"Yeah..." I answered, watching Ai.

While all of her other billions of friends were talking about something called No Nya Kaguya (I think it was an anime that came out while I was gone), she was eating her noodles in silence. Her eyes were deep and dark. She wasn't the same girl I had known what seemed like so long ago.

"She seems depressed," Yuuki stated.

"Nn..." I answered, watching Ai put her food down. The young girl then started listening to their conversation. Less than two seconds after that, the five minute bell rang. The girls all stood up, brushing off their skirts and grabbing jackets and other things that I'm unable to name since I'm not a girl. Even so, Ai just sat there, watching them.

"Aren't you coming?" One of the girls asked.

"Nope," Ai answered.

"Why not?" A different girl asked who was putting on her jacket.

"Because I'm waiting for my brother. He's really close. Soon he'll be here..." Ai murmured the last part, looking up.

The girls looked at each other. "Won't you be late or get in trouble for skipping out on class?"

"Nope," Ai answered. "And if I do get punished, it's stupid. Idiotic, really."

"Whoa," I stated, eyes wide. "That's kind of creepy... she knows how close I am and stuff. Do you think that the other-me was right?"

"Obviously," Larka said, rolling her eyes. "Dork."

I glanced at Ai again. There was something dark about her. Something that told me she wouldn't listen. No matter how I explained it, she wouldn't forgive her favorite older brother for leaving her. Something told me that this wasn't a good idea.

Yuuki shivered, her eyes downward cast. "It feels... cold..."

"So much for that global warming crap they fed me," I agreed. "It's freezing."

"Big brother, why are you hiding?" Ai asked... but the way she said it was scary. She sounded half-dead.

"Uh," I managed out, then stepped out. Ai looked at me and I saw her eyes.

They used to be a warm, caring brown that always showed joy. Now they were black and lifeless. They reflected nothing... and in them, I saw Lee and Riku.

"Why did you leave me?" she asked, slowly standing. "Hm?"

"Jin," Larka said warningly, stepping next to me. "A demon is possessing her. It's an Ukiyo, a beast that takes over someone's body for a short time, two years at most, then dies. There aren't many of them left, five at least and ten at most."

Yuuki grabbed my arm and looked at me with her big eyes. "What should we do?"

And that was the question of the day. What should we do? I couldn't kill the beast because it was in Ai and I couldn't kill Ai because she was like my little sister. However, if I didn't do something, then Ai (maybe I should start calling her Ukiyo...) would kill us.

What should I do? No, no, the real question was, what can I do?

* * *

_Was she dead? It felt like it._

_There was a woman. Her back was turned to her. The woman had white, red, and black hair. She was wearing a beautiful kimono._

_Where was she? The place was white and colorful and black and doomed all at the same time._

_Maybe she was really, truly dead._

_The woman turned to her. The woman looked sad. She couldn't help but wonder why._

_Although the woman didn't say it, she heard it clearly._

_**You couldn't help him. You've doomed them all.

* * *

**_

"Hrrgggh..." Dravis growled, his one eye that was showing flashing red. "Where the hell am I supposed to go?"

Dravis looked up. Traveling as a demon through time made you get confused since you were aware of everything that was happening. You usually got lost from the other and ended up in a different time or place. Dravis had ended up closer than he'd ever been to Larka before: the other side of Aomori.

A girl in her high school uniform was riding by on her bike when she saw him. She stuck out her tongue and made an _Eww, gross person _face. He glared up at her, then sighed. He needed help.

"Do you know where to find an elementary school or the family of a guy named Jin Sakurada?" Dravis asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Jin... Sakurada?" The girl asked, blinking. "Yeah. Well, sort of. I guess my dad's his adoptive dad."

Dravis looked up at the girl. What a spark of luck. This teenage girl... wait, maybe she was evil or lying. Then again... he couldn't sense any sort of demonic things about her. She felt like a regular teenager. And... she had the slight scent of Jin. Faint, but there.

"I'm Yume Sakurada," she said, jumping off her bike. "Who're you?"

"My name is Dravis," Dravis stated, folding his arms. "Jin tries to steal my girlfriend and I hate him."

Yume didn't seem to know how to react to this so she just laughed. "So, do you know Jin before he got... well, before he disappeared?"

Dravis stared at her. "No."

Yume stared at him back. "I'm sorry, what do you want? It's hard for any of my family to talk about Jin at all, so could you get to the point?"

"He's a God and stuff, so I need to talk to Ai and beat her up if she's under the influence of the idiot king of the current past, Lee. I hope you don't give a damn, because I'm gonna do whatever I want." Dravis had no way with words.

"Right," Yume answered. "I'm just going to get onto my bike and ride away, little boy."

"Don't call me little!" Dravis snapped. "Just because I'm short that doesn't mean you have the right to screw around with me, old lady!"

"Old lady?!" Yume cried. "Who do you think you are, you little punk!?"

"Eh heh heh..." A voice that sent shivers down Dravis's spine chuckled. "Eh heh heh... you're so funny, Dravis..."

Dravis stepped away from Yume and said lowly, "Get on the bike."

"What?" Yume asked.

"Go. Go away. Ride away as fast as you can."

"Why?"

The one man... no, the one _demon _that Dravis feared, that Dravis hated was here. The one person that he was more scared of than Rosco, his homo uncle. The one person who he had been running from all this time. Ever since he had first met Larka in hell.

"Long time no see, Dravis," Dravis's father said, slowly walking out of the shadows.

"Just go," Dravis growled, his eyes turning red again.

"Now, now, I wouldn't hurt the pitiful human," Dravis's father murmured. "It can leave. All I want is you, my little son."

Dravis shivered. His father had the most chilling of voices that he had ever heard. And, although Dravis's eyes were frightening, his father's were worse. Just like Dravis, his father had no pupils, but his father had eyes that flickered from yellow to orange to red to black to white. His eyes never had any emotions; he displayed those through his body.

"Dravis, Dravis... why are you running from us? Why are you running from Lee? You can have anything you ever wanted... you could get your mother back. You could get a real home. You could get real friends. So why are you still running, Dravis?" His father asked, a slight smirk on his face.

"I hate you!" Dravis growled. "I hate you... I'll get Mom back my own way! I don't need your help. I have the Gods on my side!"

"Really?" Dravis's father asked, feigning shock. "I never knew. Let's be honest; they are outdated. They will die soon, anyway, Dravis. And when they do, Lee will take over. And, trust me, there's nothing you can do about that."

"Shut the hell up!" Dravis growled, turning into his demon-wolf form.

"A puppy! How cute," Dravis's father said, smirking. He then turned to Yume, who was still standing there, in a sort of trance. "You can go now, girl. Your time of death isn't here."

Just after saying that, Dravis jumped on his father, trying to put his mouth on his father's neck. However, the older demon brushed him off, smirking. Dravis rolled on the ground a few times, got up, and spread his wings, growling.

"So scary," Dravis's father stated, bringing out his sword made from human bones.

"D-don't hurt him!" Yume cried quickly, her eyes averted from the demon.

"What?" Dravis's father asked mildly, turning to her.

"I... I just met this guy, but he knows something about Jin. That's a good enough reason for me to protect him!" Yume said, clutching her arms tightly. Her eyes were wide with fear and she knew one thing at that moment: Ai had been right.

"Get lost!" Dravis snapped, baring his teeth.

"No!" Yume said defiantly. "I won't! You know my brother, and I want to see him again!"

"Is that so?" Dravis's father asked, fingering his sword. "And would you like to see your mother, too?"

"What...?" Yume asked, taking a step back, her eyes wide.

"Don't!" Dravis cried, trying to jump in front of the girl.

However, it was too late. Dravis's father was behind Yume, his sword outstretched. Blood flew from all around the teenage girl and she fell to her knees, eyes wide. Blood, after the huge spill, slowly began seeping from her deep side wound. Dravis's father looked on without any feelings.

"You shouldn't have opened your big mouth," he said coldly. "Idiot."

Yume touched her side and looked at the blood that now coated her hands, confused. She had just wanted to say goodbye to Michiru... and now she was going to die by the hand of some... some creature. She wasn't sure what he was, but he wasn't human.

He was a demon.

* * *

_Who did she doom? She couldn't even remember who she was._

_The woman's eyes flickered from golden to violet. Her eyes showed pain._

_**Look to the flames.**_

_She looked to the flames and saw a girl kneeling, dying. The girl was close to her. But who... ?_

_"Who am I?" she asked._

_The woman closed her eyes and did not answer._

_

* * *

_"What's the matter?" the demon demanded. "Too scared to fight me, punk!?"

"Uh," I answered. That seemed to be my answer a lot.

"Chicken!" the demon screeched, turning into two. Dang it! Why'd they have to have the ability to change into more?!

"I'm not scared!" I snapped. "I just don't wanna hurt Ai's body, you big palooka!"

"Chicken!" Ai's body answered. "Chicken!"

"Rrrrrrgggghhh..." I growled. "Why did stupid me have to take me to stupid now?!"

"Eh heh heh..." Yuuki said, blushing.

"Yuuki likes the other yooouuuu!" Larka shouted, eating dango that she had bought. "She thinks the older you is seexxxyyyy!"

"Sh- shut up!" Yuuki growled. "I do not!"

Let me catch you up to speed: we had decided to go to my house, but the stupid demon who can't really do anything wants to follow us. No, scratch that, it can do something: annoy the crap out of anyone that it wants. Right now, we're getting some food because we haven't eaten anything for almost three hours. Ah hah, just kidding.

More like twenty seven hours.

"I don't care if Yuuki thinks the older me is sexy or not, I'm friggin' hungry!" I moaned.

"I don't think the older you is sexy!" Yuuki shouted, her face bright red. "That's disgusting! I mean, I honestly don't know-"

"Hey guys," Older-me said. "What up?"

Yuuki's face turned brighter red and she hid behind Larka. Larka smirked and turned to me.

"I've proved my point."

"What point is that?" Older-me asked, sounding somewhat interested.

"Yuuki thinks you're sexy," Larka answered. "Now what are you doing here? We're very lost."

"First of all, I'm here to help out. Second of all, I'm going to send the Ai-beast to the Cell of Hell. Thirdly, that ryhmes. I can't believe I never noticed that. And, lastly, I think you're sexy when you're older, too, Yuuki," he said easily.

Yuuki blushed even deeper. "Eh... EHH!?"

"Have I kissed you yet? I can never tell..." Older-me mused.

"This is where I ask you to shut up," I growled, feeling my face turn red. What in the heck did he mean by kiss Yuuki?!

"Chicken!" Ai's body screeched. "Chicken! Chicken!"

"We can talk all day about how much we love Yuuki's cute little body later but right now we have a job to do," Older-me said, forcing me to blush even deeper. I was getting better and being less perverted, but I guess there was a nose-dive somewhere in there because I was discussing with myself about how... "good-looking" Yuuki was.

Yuuki was tightly hanging onto Larka's arm, her face very red. As other-me walked in front of us, I took some steps back, catching up (or is it down?) with the two girls.

"I'm disgusting," I said honestly.

"Yes," Larka agreed. "Yes you are."

"You really are hot when you're older..." I heard Yuuki's say very very very quietly.

"What?" I asked blankly.

"Nothing!" she cried, blushing even deeper, if possible.

"You think that freak who is me is hot?" I asked, pointing to the other-me. "And by saying that he's hot, that I'm hot? So in a technical sense, you think that _I'm _hot?!"

"You're twisting things!" Yuuki cried, covering her face. "Shut up!"

That was when I noticed that we had passed the other me. He was staring forward, eyes in shock. When I looked up, I stopped, too.

Where my house was supposed to be, there were flames.

* * *

_They were all dead... and it was her fault._

_Those innocent people were all dead. They were dead. So far, twenty-nine people._

_The boy, Jin, was supposed to go next. Supposed to die._

_"We have to save him!" she cried. "We can't just stand here!"  
_

_The woman looked away bitterly. **There is nothing we can do.**_

_There must be something, she thought. There must be something. Something we can do._

_Something to save him._

_

* * *

_"You're wonderful, Riku," Lee growled. "Too wonderful..."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Riku asked.

"I think you know what I mean... every night since you've come back, you've been screwing around with me. You want to screw around with Jin or Miuri more than me, don't you?"

Riku looked up and sighed. He was himself again; his white hair fell barely past his shoulders and his eyes were blood red. He appeared to be twenty-five or so. He was a somewhat a beautiful demon, if you can call a demon that. He was amazing.

"Yes..." he said softly. "Yes. Yes I do."

"Get out," Lee growled, acting like a sullen child. "Get out."

"I still want you, though," Riku said, leaning in closely to Lee, whose eyes were turned away.

"No, you don't," Lee whispered.

Riku closed his eyes, sighing softly. "Lee. I would never ever ever _ever _betray you. You were there first. You'll stay with me, and I'll stay with you."

"Really?" Lee asked softly.

"Of course," Riku replied, touching Lee's arm gently. "You know that, don't you?"

"We may have to kill her, though. You won't forgive me, will you?" Lee asked. "You'll be angry."

"Yes, but I'll get over it," Riku said, brushing Miuri's death aside.

"Will you?" Lee challenged. "What about Jin? Will you get over Jin's death? Will you kill Orochi and Ninetails when they kill him together? Will you ever forgive me?"

"You'll be all I have left," Riku answered.

"Tomorrow we'll attack Mount Fuji and begin the raid on Western Nippon. Are you sure you're strong enough?" Lee asked.

"If I'm not," Riku answered, pushing Lee down and getting on top of him. "Who is?"

Lee sighed. He just wasn't sure.

* * *

_The woman was Amaterasu. She kept asking about her name, but recieved no answer._

_The Sun Goddess seem resigned to the fact that Jin was going to die. She wouldn't help._

_So Ai's spirit knew that she would have to save Jin and bring him back to the past to fix everything._

_To fix her own mistakes._

**A/N- It is longer than the last. That's gotta count for something. And... sorry for the yaoi between Lee and Riku if you hate it. I don't like yaoi so it's awkward for me to write. lol I wonder why I put it in the story.**

**Please review if you can!  
**


	16. Ai, Don't Talk To Strangers

**A/N- Thank you, Hell's Harbinger. I'm trying to get better at writing...  
**

**Disclaimer- le moo**

_Twenty-four hours before..._

"So you're the little girl that Jin knows so well," Lee purred, touching Ai's cheek.

The girl was frozen solid. This person... this demon looked like he was a year or two older than Jin, but he was different. An aura of coldness surrounded him, and his eyes were black as coal. There was an unexplainable darkness that was about him that chilled one to the bone.

He took her hand and Ai flinched. His hands were cold like ice, just like how he felt. His long fingers encased her own fingers.

"Don't," she whispered, trying to bring her hand out of his grasp. Lee held on tighter and pressed her against the wall even more so.

"Oh, you don't like this?" he hissed, gripping her fingers tightly. "You hate it, don't you? You hate being powerless. That's the real reason why you made a link to Jin. Because you're a selfish little brat who wanted power. You didn't realize that there are bad people in the world, though, did you?"

Ai turned away, biting her bottom lip. She had done it because she missed Jin, hadn't she? All of the sudden, she wasn't so sure.

The eleven-year-old then looked past the demon king to his general. Riku was watching without any expression on his face. She didn't understand how he could do that. She didn't understand why he could just watch as Lee wanted to steal her soul. They had once been... well, not friends, but she was the annoying best friend's little sister. Didn't that count for anything?

"Such a quiet little girl," Lee murmured in Ai's ear. "I wonder... is there anything that we can do about that? Do you think that we can do anything about this, Riku? Hm?"

Riku's smile was easy and silent. Just as Lee chilled Ai to the bone, Riku burned her up. That little smile made her feel like she was in an inferno that was impossible to escape from. She was being frozen and burned to death at the same time.

"No!" Ai cried, tears filling her eyes. "Stop it, Riku! Smile again, but like you did before! Don't you remember Jin? And Miuri! What about Miuri? Don't you care about them at all? Why are you doing this? I... I don't understand at all! Please... just... just stop... Riku..."

Ai began sobbing. At this, Lee laughed and buried his fingernails deeply in her skin. Just as tears dripped from Ai's face, blood dripped from her hand.

"She had a childish little crush on you, didn't she, Riku?" Lee asked, sounding amused. "How innocent and sweet. I wonder how she feels about your betrayal. Ai is the only person that truly understands what's going on... maybe she's different."

Riku frowned. "What do you mean?"

Lee tilted Ai's chin up and looked into her chocolate-brown eyes. Ai looked away, trying to force her lip to stop trembling. Why was she so weak... ?

It was true. She craved power. She wanted people to notice her, to recognize her. Everyone was amazed at Michiru and his smarts. Yume was an athletic genius. Jin was the mysterious boy who had managed to disappear and become a God.

And she was nothing. That's why she forced Jin to know her.

"You understand why I want you to be with me, don't you?" Lee asked, placing his hand on her tear-stained cheek. "You do, don't you? Because you have a sleeping power in you. I can make you great. I can make people look at you with respect. That's what you want, isn't it?"

"No!" Ai cried tearfully.

She didn't want power if there was a price. The price of becoming evil was too high for her. She wouldn't give up her own happiness or her family's happiness just so she could become a powerful person. She wasn't like that. She would not do it.

Lee smile quivered and it became forced. His eyes turned into an icy glare and his fingers went even deeper into her. Ai cried out, watching more blood beginning to drip from her hand.

"I waited more than a month to steal your powers. To suck them out of you. I have waited much too long, it seems. Now it would be my absolute pleasure to kill you and steal them. This is your last chance to live. Lend me your life and I'll give you what you want," Lee hissed.

Ai's chocolate eyes widened and she looked away. Would she give it up? Her life? For this demon who wanted to kill Jin?

Jin... her mind drifted to him. The best older brother she could have asked for, and she was abusing it by stealing his powers by using the link that she had created. She wanted to steal his powers so badly, but she hadn't even known it.

"Keep in mind that either way I'll be taking your powers," Lee stated. "If you live, then you can have at least some control. If I were you, I would live and give me your powers. Give me your life. However, that is just me, and I'm not you. Make your choice or I'll make it for you."

Ai hesitated. What to say? What to do? To live and betray or to die and betray? What to do?

"Take my powers and let me live," Ai said softly, feeling like she had made a tragic mistake. Lee smiled cruelly. And that was the exact moment that Ai knew that she had made a terrible horrible mistake.

Lee shook her blood-stained hand and Ai felt faint. Wisps of white were coming out of her, and her mouth was forced open by Lee. Ai felt so weak that she couldn't protest against this. In fact, she knelt down and leaned against his cold body.

Lee lifted up her chin, his eyes cruelly flashing. After the wisps of white that flew from Ai came to Lee, a whisp of gold came from her mouth and took the form of a Chinese dragon before resting upon the demon king's shoulder. Lee smiled, looking down at Ai.

"This is like making deals with Satan; you'll forever be burned by horrible choices. You'll live, but you'll share your body. And since I've taken almost everything from your body, you might as well not have your consciousness in your body. Be freed while I place an Ukiyo in your body."

Lee took his fingers from Ai's face and her eyes opened wide. A piercing last scream erupted from within her body as the last bits of her soul were released into the world.

And it was her fault.

* * *

"This isn't fair!" I cried angrily. "This isn't fair at all!"

"No, it's not. This didn't happen in my time," Other-me said, sounding stunned.

I glanced at him, blinking. If this didn't happen in his time, then that meant that something in this time had switched. Something had made them take the wrong turn in the road, the turn that lead to certain doom. But what could have... ?

_"It's my fault, Jin," _a terribly said voice said. _"All my fault."_

"Huh?" I asked, looking around. "Who said that?"

"Who said what?" Larka asked. "Are you going berserk or something?"

I blinked. Larka hadn't heard it... but the voice was so clear. It was as clear as someone whispering in my ears when there's total silence.

_"I can only talk to you for a short time, Jin. You need to go back in time. You have to stop me from making a terrible mistake... the worst mistake that I've ever made, Jin. Please. Go back exactly one day ago... go... to.. my school... save.. the world..."_

The connection abruptly ended, leaving me bewildered. Other-me looked at me, a frown on his face. He had heard it, too.

"Help me out," I stated easily.

Other-me nodded. "Everyone, hold hands."

"More time-traveling, huh?" Yuuki sighed at me. And, rather bashfully, she took Other-me's hand.

That just freaked me out.

"Wait!" Larka cried. "We can't leave without Dravis! He's still out there somewhere."

I wanted to tell her that there was no time. That she would have to forget about him for now. That she couldn't deal with that sort of thing right now. But the fear in her big blue eyes pierced me in the chest. Her eyes begged with me.

"We can't," said the Other-me. "Not now, Larka. We'll get him later. I'll take you back to your regular time after this, but this Dravis will be lost. Please. We have no time."

"I'm not leaving without Dravis," she said firmly.

I glanced at Other-me. His eyes were worried but they said a lot. One of the things was that we would have to leave Larka here. This Larka, the one in this time, would be lost. There would be a Larka in the past, but this Larka would become nothingness.

And that freaked me out, too.

"You'll be lost in this time that has no meaning and will change and be destroyed," Other-me said softly. "Are you sure you want to stay?"

"We can't leave without Larka and Dravis!" I cried in a panicked tone. "We-we just can't! They're part of my team. I may really dislike Dravis, but I kind of need him! And Larka's... Larka is really special to me! We can't leave them here to be lost and destroyed!"

Other-me let go of Yuuki's hand, and put a hand on my shoulder. His eyes were serious. For the first moment since I'd met him, I saw the pain in his eyes. He used humor to hide how he really felt. And now... now he was telling me that I would lose Larka and Dravis, no matter what I did or said. He didn't like it, but it was true.

Tears stung my eyes and I wiped my eyes angrily. It wasn't fair. Nothing was. I hated it all.

"There you are!" I heard an all too familiar voice call. "Damn, it took forever to find you guys!"

For the first time in my life, I was happy to see Dravis. I turned, ran to him, and gave him a hug. Yes, I hugged Dravis... ugh... don't remind me. He called me and F-er and told me to get the F away, D it. And to think I was crying... over losing Larka, but still.

Other-me smiled, Larka pushed me out of the way and gave Dravis a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, and Yuuki clapped, smiling happily. I rubbed my eyes again and turned to the Other-me, grinning broadly. We were all together again.

"I'm glad you're here," Other-me said. "Now hold Larka's hand. Let's all get in a big circle of happiness and love, yes?"

"And do what, play a kid's game?" Dravis snorted.

"Oh yes, we're going to play this lovely new one I found," Other-me said sarcastically. "It involves magical rainbows. Not. We need to get to the past and save the world, already. This time, close your eyes Dravy-poo, and don't get distracted."

Dravis blushed and grabbed Larka's hand, grumbling under his breath. I took the Other-me's and Larka's. Her hand was very... warm. Pleasantly so. I smiled.

Yuuki took the Other-me's hand and Dravis's. However, as she took Other-me's, she blushed deeply. I was going to have to ask her about that. I knew it wasn't just the fact that she thought that I was hot when I older. There was something else, too...

Other-me clicked his heels together twice and said, "There's no place like home. There's no place like home."

I could have died of embarrassment right there, considering that he is me and me is he, but I didn't because I had a world to save. Those sorts of things are the reason why I get up in the morning. The knowledge of saving the world is in my grimy hands...

Oh, and I'm usually hungry when I wake up.

* * *

"So you're the little girl that Jin knows so well," Lee purred, touching Ai's cheek.

"I wanna punch him..." I growled. "He's screwin' around with my little sister, isn't he? I'm gonna kill him..."

Other-me patted my head gently. I rolled my eyes at him but remained silent. _He _wanted to do the fighting for me since I had no weapon. And it wasn't like he did... honestly, it was so freaking annoying how freaking annoying he was...

I hoped I wasn't that freaking annoying.

"Now?" Larka asked.

"Now," Other-me agreed.

Larka transformed into her wolfy-self and Other-me took out a pen. Maybe I'm crazy in the future. Dravis said he had ninja skills. Lucky.

Yuuki was staying back because Other-me was worried about her getting hurt. He said that she didn't have her sweet bowstaff yet, so she couldn't be too careful. So, of course, I was being used as a last resort type of thing. Great...

Other-me stepped out from behind the corner. "Hello, Lee."

Lee looked up, his eyes wide. Riku glared as though he had been expecting this. Ai's eyes widened, then tears came into them.

"Prepare for hurt, King Idiot," Larka growled.

"**** yeah," Dravis agreed.

I watched with interest. Lee was outnumbered. I had defeated him before(?). He was against two Gods. Dravis was a demon, and couldn't be killed by another demon (at least that's what Larka told me a while back...). I only wondered how he would handle this.

Yuuki took my hand. I blinked and glanced at her. She looked scared. That wasn't reassuring.

"So, you try to question my power," Lee growled, removing himself from Ai. "That wasn't the best of choices. I can kill you all. Especially you, O God of Time. Your powers are dwindling. I can feel it. Is it because you have children? Is that it?"

Other-me flushed with anger. "You'll never hurt them."

"It's true. I can only go to the time's that were given to me by you so many years ago. However, I promise you that those children will die by Dravis's hand. I forsee it in his future," Lee said, fangs beginning to grow. "Dravis will hurt you and your little family more than you could ever know..."

Yes, good news kept flowing in! Let's make a little list, shall we?

1) I was sucked into the past.

2) I was the God of Time.

3) I was supposed to save the world.

4) I fell in love with a girl who has a boyfriend.

5) The girl's boyfriend hates me and will one day kill my children.

6) Yuuki thinks I'm hot.

And that's what I've got so far... I'm sure that the news will get better and better as we go along in this story! Oh, look, here's something else to add...

The person that I'm saving the world from is some sort of dragon-beast. He was at least ten feet tall and both fur and scales grew from all over his body. A cape was attached to his body by two piercings were his breast bones (eh heh... heh...) supposed to be and white, ripped-up wrappings covered most of his body. Around his neck was one small necklace with a black pearl on it.

He had one black wing that looked like a raven's wing. It was oily and most of the feathers had fallen out, showing the disgusting bloody skin.

The lower half of the demon's body was a snake. It was a dark gray color and had a little rattle at the end. It somewhat looked like it was half-way molted, half-way not. Pieces of skin were dragging off his body. Now, I'd like to say right now that he was absolutely disgusting.

Yuuki squeezed my hand, looking somewhat sick. I nodded, but kept watching. It was oddly entrancing to watch.

"Still think you can defeat me?!" Lee-demon demanded, brandishing his claws. "I will kill you all!"

Larka and Dravis acted as one. Larka attacked the top half of Lee, going for his neck, while Dravis went for the end. Lee made a freakish screeching noise, and hit Dravis back. He then grabbed Larka in mid-air and pushed her to the ground, attempting to crush her neck.

Don't ask me where Other-me's sword came from. One minute there was a regular pen in his hand and the next there was a long, thin sword in his hand, like one that the samurai used. Anyway, he sliced at Lee's hand with expertise.

I half-expected him to dodge, half-expected it to go straight through, cutting off his hand. However, neither happened. It barely even made a scratch on him. Apparently, instead of having rock hard abs, he had rock hard skin. Personally, I'd rather have the first than the latter. Mm hm.

Lee made the freaky screeching noise again, his yellow eyes open wide. Larka got up and snapped at his arm, latching on. Lee tried to shake her off, glaring and growling all the while.

Dravis, meanwhile, put his arms around Lee's neck and began choking him. Lee bit Dravis's arm, and the boy cried out, letting go quickly. Blood began to flow from his already scar-encrusted arm. I suppose he deserved it for being emo.

Finally, Lee screeched once more. This time, though, it was different. The scream put fear into my soul. It was the sort of thing that made you want to run away. Made you want to cry. Made you want to never see the person who made that noise ever again.

I hated that noise with the burning fury of a thousand suns. Especially since, while everyone was covering their ears, Lee made a portal.

He stopped screeching suddenly and laughed, "See you next time! The time for battle is not yet; but the time for invasion is here! Goodbye, D. A. K. L. S.! Goodbye forever..."

And then he disappeared through the portal, which shut behind him. And, for the first time, I noticed that we were all alone. As in, there was Riku. There was no Ai. There was just me, Other-me, Larka, Dravis, and Yuuki.

"Where did they go?" Yuuki asked, voicing my thoughts.

"He took her," I said, sounding shocked. "They... they took Ai!"

* * *

"Isn't this place... to horrible for her? She's just a human child," the imp said.

"Keep her with Tachigami, just as I have said," Lee growled. "Do not fail me, imp. I will capture all of the gods... even if it kills me!"

"Y-yes, sir!" the imp cried, saluting him.

Ai looked at the imp slowly. Whatever was up with this imp... well... he wasn't very bright, anyway. He would probably be easily confused.

As the imp put her in handcuffs, Ai asked, "Do you know about the God of Time?"

The imp coughed lightly, looking away. He was obviously not supposed to talk about such things. So, that being known, Ai decided to press the matter further. There was no harm in it, after all. She would be locked up either way.

"Are you scared of him?"

"Yes..." the imp said. "Now please be quiet. They're serving miso soup for dinner and you're distracting me from my work."

Ai smirked at this. She could get what she wanted easily from him.

"Who's Tachigami?" she asked.

"The God of Powerful Slashes," the imp replied. "But he doesn't know who he is. Don't tell him. It could release his power and then you guys could get out. My pay would be docked..."

"I won't tell him," Ai assured the imp.

"Thank you, kind maiden," the imp said. "Maybe I'll bring you food later."

"That would be very nice. Now can you please take me to my cell?" Ai asked politely.

"Certainly."

The guards here were not very bright. Ai didn't need to be a genius like her elder brother to know that.

As they walked along the rows of cells, terrifying screeches came from some of the places while low moaning came from others. Either way, Ai didn't want to know what those cells held. She suddenly hoped that her cell mate wasn't a freak of nature.

The two went down a row of cells that held almost no terrifying noises (you could still hear some of the awful noises from there). Finally, at the last cell, the imp nervously took out a large key. The imp stuck it into the huge keyhole and, before beckoning her in, gave a little smile to Ai.

"Best of wishes. It's only been here for a few weeks, but... I'm not sure if I'd touch it if I were you, fair maiden," the imp said, quickly opening the door. The imp then pushed her in the cell quickly and locked the door behind her. The sound of the door locking seemed to clang annoying loud in the eleven-year-old's ears.

"How rude," she simply huffed, turning away.

Ai blinked. There was a person sitting down, staring at her. His black hair fell down to his shoulders and he had tight lips. Deep black circles under his eyes stated that he hadn't slept for two days at least and he was slightly pale from being locked inside here for such a long time.

All in all, he was rather frightening. So Ai squeaked, trying to hold in the scream that had been threatening to come out since she had first met up with that horrible person-demon-thing, Lee.

"Shh," the person, Tachigami as Ai guessed, said, standing up. "Please don't scream..."

His eyes pleaded with her. Although it was obvious that he wasn't a normal sixteen-year-old, it was also obvious that he wasn't a bad person. His eyes had a certain warmth to them. Different than Riku's fiery depths, though. More like a fireplace than a burning inferno.

"Are you... Tachigami?" she asked hesitantly.

"Tachigami?" he repeated, sounding confused. "That's not my name. My name's Ethan. Ethan Satoya..."

"Isanu?" Ai asked blankly. "That sounds foreign..."

"I-tha-n," Ethan said, drawing out every syllable. "It's English."

Ai blushed and looked down. Even though her own mother had an English name, she still couldn't pronounce anything that was English right... was it just her in her family that had that problem? Maybe Jin did, too, since he was more Japanese than anyone else in their family...

"Why did you think that I was somebody named Tachigami?" Ethan asked. "And do you know what's going on around here? Can you tell me... ?" He drew out the last part, realizing that he didn't know her name.

"Ai," she said. "My name is Ai. And I think that we have a lot to talk about, Ethan..."

* * *

Miuri frowned. The Game of Death (which is very similar to the Game of Life) wasn't too fun. Mainly because she sucked at it.

"Not to be annoying or anything, but you loose again," Kyoufu said sympathetically.

Miuri rolled her eyes and sighed. Here, they were biding their time until something bad happened or the scouts saw something. Now that Miuri thought about it, where exactly were the scouts? They were supposed to be here ten minutes ago...

"Where are the scouts?" Miuri asked, voicing what was on her mind.

Kyoufu frowned and looked around. It was true; they still weren't back. It was odd because they were forever prompt. And he did mean forever prompt...

"I don't feel their presenses," Diyu stated, pushing a few snakes that happened to be his hair back. "That can only mean one thing... just like the Game of Death, they're gone. But... it's really weird. I would have noticed sooner that they were gone if they had been killed..."

He suddenly paled and looked at Kyoufu like this was all his fault. Kyoufu blinked, fear showing in his eyes, but not in his face. Miuri looked back and forth between the two in confusion.

"What? What? What is it?" she asked.

"They most likely went to the Cell of Hell," Kyoufu said, his voice cracking. "It is somewhere that no light has ever reached. Blackness and death weigh there so heavily that you can't move, no matter what kinds of strength you have. It's the only place that you can't be sensed... that you just disappear to."

"Okay... but what does that mean?" Miuri asked.

"You go in there and kkkttt! It's all over," Diyu said, his three eyes wide. "No one has ever escaped it. It's said where the darkness of Yami and his followers were put after his death."

Chills went up and down Miuri's spine. By now, she was very familiar with the tale of Amaterasu and Yami. From what she'd heard, she didn't like. And to think, if some of her friends were put in his darkness forever... she shuddered. What an awful thought.

"What do we do?" Miuri asked.

"At the moment, Lee has control over the Cell of Hell," Kyoufu stated. "Which means he's on the mountain. We have to tell Nokori... before it's too late."

Suddenly, Miuri realized how Jin felt. The weight of the world on your shoulders wasn't exactly the greatest thing to have there.

**A/N- TA DAAAHHH. Wheeee...... I think this is my longest chapter, but I could be wrong. It's my birthday present from me to you... so be happy!! And review! Reviewing makesh meh happeh!  
**


	17. Le Adieu Et Le Bonjour

**A/N- Hey, hey! I'm starting to get more reviewers! Or, at least, they're reviewing more... So, thanks, Catorrina-chan and Hell's Harbinger! :D**

**Disclaimer- OKAMI = NOT MOI**

"It was great seeing me again," Other-me said casually.

I rolled my eyes. He was more immature than me, and you had to be pretty immature to be more immature than a teenage boy. Hm. Am I mature for admitting that I'm immature? Or is that just further stating the fact that I'm immature?

I'm somewhat random. My thoughts are, anyway. I just noticed that.

"Take good care of him, Yuuki," Other-me stated. "Look at that face. He needs all the help he can get."

Larka snorted and I glared at the Other-me. The problem with knowing yourself is that you know exactly how to push your buttons and what gets you annoyed. If that makes any sense. Simply said, it means I know how to tick myself off. It still doesn't seem to make much sense.

"Larka," he said softly, turning to her. "Spend your last year wisely. Make Jin happy."

... what? Last year? What did he mean by that? And by Larka's face (which was hardened), it wasn't exactly a great thing.

"Oh, and I just remembered..." Other-me stuck out his hand, concentrating.

Like magic, with a poof and everything, a large yellow and white sword came into his hand. Larka's face lit up instantly when she saw the sword.

"Is that... can it be... the Lunar Cleaver?! My sword?! Where did you find it?!" She cried, taking it from him. "My dad took it away from me, like, a year ago! How did you find it again, Jin? He told me that he'd never give it back after I tried to use it on the evil girl..." Larka shuddered at the last line, making me wonder who the evil girl was.

And if she was hot.

"Your dad gave it to me after the last battle," he stated. "I put it in... er, I can't tell you. Jin would freak out."

_This _is why I seriously didn't like Other-me. He was annoyingly mysterious and wouldn't tell me anything, other than the fact that Yuuki was hot when she was older. And I already knew that she would be hot when she was older. You could tell with Yuuki.

"Dravis, please try to be buddies with me, okay?" Other-me asked. "I know it's hard since I'm a freak, but just try? Don't be too hard on me."

Dravis nodded and pushed a couple of hairs out of his eyes. I could tell by the bored expression on his face, however, that he wasn't really listening to Other-me. It kind of made me wonder if we would ever get along. Some odd part of me kinda wished that we would.

And then I brushed it off, because being friends with people is just stupid and absolutely no fun in comparison to having enemies. Maybe that's just me trying to be stupid, though. Bah, who knows?!

"And, now, little Jin," Other-me said, grinning at me.

My face turned bright red and I snapped, "I'm not little! I'm almost as tall as you and I'm much taller than any of these people!"

"Demon," Dravis corrected, flipping me the bird.

I glared at him. Why couldn't that idiot just go die in a hole!? I hated him with the burning fury of one-thousand suns! I wanted him to go die for all I cared... idiot...

"Now, now," Other-me stated. "Calm down. Jin, I wanna give you some friendly advice. First of all, love Larka, but only as you would love Ai. Trust me, falling in love with Larka would be a horrible, terrible thing to do. Next, be nice to Yuuki and take very good care of her. She's a sweetie." He smiled at the blushing young teenager.

"And, lastly, I need to give you your weapon," Other-me said, pulling out the pen that he had used when battling against Lee.

I took it and frowned. A ball-point pen. Lovely. Now I can stab my enemies, give those enemies an inky demise, and give girls my cell phone number when I'm in a hurry. That is, I would if I had a freaking cell phone. I still don't get why I never got one...

You know, I just noticed that my mind seemed to wander from the original purpose of what I was originally going to say. Have you noticed it? Maybe it's just me.

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"No problem," he replied. "Larka can teach you how to use it."

Larka grinned at me and I felt chills. We were going to start the training that I continually ran away from. There would be no more running. I couldn't... she would... would kill me.

"Now, I do say adieu," he said, bowing. "Adieu and I fare thee well."

Larka then turned her grin to him. "Nice, man. You finally started learning French."

"Seulquelqu'un petit," he replied, grinning back.

I would just like to this now: I have absolutely no clue what in the friggin' crap he just said. I know it was French, but that's pretty much it.

"Adieu, frère," Larka said, smiling softly at him.

Something about the word "frère" caught my attention. I don't really know what it was, but it felt pretty familiar. Warm. Kind. Unlike Larka. I don't know exactly what it was about that word, but it made me feel better about everything.

Other-me turned away and disappeared, going back to the future, where he belonged. It felt kind of like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

I glanced over to Larka and blinked in surprise. A tear had trickled down her face. She wiped it away when she noticed it, her face turning a shade pinker. Something secret had been shared between them, something that I didn't know. Something that had made the great, strong, wonderful Larka cry.

Dravis put his arm around her and whispered something to her. She nodded, taking in a few deep breathes.

"Okay," she said, turning to Yuuki and me. "We need to get going to the western part of Nippon. It's very important that we get there. It's where the D. A. K. L. S. is."

"The Dakls?" I asked.

Larka stared at me. "The what?"

"The Dakls. The Demons Against King Lee Society. You know? Dakls is so much shorter."

"That's stupid," Larka stated.

I pouted at her. She never accepted my ideas, even when they were good ideas. And calling it Dakls was so much shorter than the D. A. K. L. S. Honestly... poopy head.

Wow, I'm immature.

"We need to find some funding as well," Larka continued, folding her arms and taking up her "leader" position. "I know three good sources of money: the princess of Nippon, Toshi-hime. The prince of the moon, Migusaki. And the last one..." Larka shuddered. "Hhrgh."

I smirked. "Are you scared?"

"If you knew that person," Larka snapped, "then you would be scared, too, Jin! She's a freak..."

I chuckled at the thought of Larka being scared of anyone. It seemed like she was the sort of person who wouldn't be scared of anything, but she was scared of a person? This person, whoever they were, must be truly scary if they can scare Larka.

"She is scary," Dravis muttered, shuddering. "She's as bad as Uncle Rosco... maybe worse... and you met him once, Jin... you know what he's like..."

Chills ran through my body. When I had first come to the past, I had met Dravis and his uncle. His uncle, Rosco I suppose, was somewhat... gay. He seemed like the kind of guy that would do perverted things to you during the night while you were asleep. That was just my first impression, but impressions are lasting...

"As bad as who?" Yuuki asked.

"A scary, scary, scary man," I replied, my voice cracking. "Very scary man..."

Yuuki looked at all of us, shuddering at the thought of the mystery girl and Rosco. If she knew... Oh, if she knew the scary-ness, then I'm certain that she would be shivering, too.

"Wimps," she said loudly.

"You do not know the horror!" Dravis shouted. "Now make me food, woman!"

"Woman?!" Yuuki screeched. "Do not call me that! I have a name, and I will not be addressed as anything but it! And I will most certainly not make you any food, you sexist pig! You're almost as bad as Jin, and he's pretty bad. You're all stupid!"

"Why bring me into this?" I asked, feeling offended.

"Stop! Stop fighting!" A mighty voice cried. "The all-powerful and greatest warrior is here to save the day! Su-sa-nooo!!"

I stared at the slightly over-weight man that had just jumped out of the tree. He had a wooden sword (what good does a wooden sword do? Splinters?!) that had a single flower growing out of it. He had a bushy beard and fluffs of hair stuck up on his head.

"Bow before the greatest immortal hero ever, Susano! Bua ha ha ha ha!" Susano laughed. "Newly made God of the Seas!"

I stared at this guy, Susano. Sure, I'd heard of him while my fake dad had told us stories of the gods, but I never believed he was so dang... ugly. Ugh. Pot-belly. What was up with the God of Seas and Storms being so ugly?! Don't you get a choice when you're a god whether you wanna be hot or not?!

"Get over yourself, Su," Larka said, sounding somewhat bored.

"Gah! Moon-girl!" Susano cried, as though just noticing her. "Are you trying to interfere with my heroicness again?! Trying to steal the glory?!"

"As if," Larka snorted, flicking a piece of hair that was in her eyes. "This guy is." She pointed to me.

I winced, put a hand behind my neck, and tried to awkwardly wave. I have never been good at talking to strangers, and Gods were just a whole new level. It was the oddness of if I should be respectful since they're gods or I should act casual since I was a god or I shouldn't react at all or maybe--well, you get my point.

I'm so shy! Gosh, I'm blushing!

"Huh. Odd. He doesn't look heroic at all," Susano said. "Wait... Kouin? Is that you?"

Kouin. Wasn't that the name that I had taken on before I turned myself (or something like that) into a baby? I think so.

"Uh, sure," I said.

Susano grabbed me and hugged me tightly, choking the lights out of me.

"IknewthatyouwouldcomebackKouinIjustknewit!" He cried. "You'remybestfriendinthewholebigwideworldandImissedyousomuchKouinhaveyoubeenagoodboybecauseI'llspankyouifyouhaven'tandI'mjustsohappytoseethatyou'reokay!"

"I... can't... breath!" I gasped.

"Right, sorry," Susano said, letting go of me. "You're so scrawny, Kouin..."

Yuuki was giggling slightly, Larka was in the middle of rolling her eyes, and Dravis was laughing loudly. I frowned at them and Susano grinned broadly. Susano then began doing that somewhat weird laugh of his again. It just sounds... weird.

"Do I know you?" I asked after he finished laughing.

Susano stared at me, the happiness abruptly washed off his face. He walked over to a tree and began hitting his head on the tree. I watched him. This man was... odd.

"You guys were..." Larka snorted. "Best friends. The only thing that really tore you two away from each other was a certain girl. Susano didn't approve of her, but you were in love with her. I think it's kinda funny and a little bit sad."

"Of course I didn't agree!" Susano cried. "The girl was six-years-old and he looked like he was twenty-five at the time!"

I felt my face turn red. Susano was right; that _was _an inappropriate age difference.

I glanced over to Yuuki, whose face was a brighter red than my own. Wait a minute. Redder than mine? And she had acted oddly around the older me. She had acted like she had a crush on the older me. And I had looked like I was anywhere between twenty-two to twenty-five. No way. No freaking way.

"Oh please no!" I cried, feeling my face turn red. "Please no, Yuuki!"

"Yuuki?!" Susano demanded. "That was the name of the girl that stole Kouin's heart almost ten years ago!"

I could have died.

"Okay!" Larka cried. "We get the point, Su! What are you doing here?"

I could have kissed Larka if Dravis wasn't there. _Anything _to get my past relationship with Yuuki out of here. There was no way that I was in love with Yuuki... but it was somewhat possible that she was in love with me. Okay, creepy much?

"Fid--er, Amaterasu sent me here to get you across the water. The sea's only a couple miles away, so you need to get across somehow. I'm going to take you on my warrior's boat, Mushafune! It is the greatest warrior's boat in the world!" Susano punched the air to emphasize it.

I stared. He named his ship Mushafune... which could translate to Warriorboat. He was sure creative, that was for sure.

"There are important things, though, to be said. Like... how could you allow Kouin to travel with this wench, Moon-girl?! She'll be with child before the winter," Susano said. "I know that's what Kouin's like, so don't try to deny it!"

I stared, slack jawed. Did he just say... with child?! As in, pregnant?! As in, he thought that I would have **_SEX _**with Yuuki!? He said that was what I was like! I was... I was a freaking pervert in the past?! And the future?! Why was I so freaking perverted?!

"S-Susano!" Larka cried, blushing herself. "He doesn't like her like that anymore! They're just friends!"

Susano blinked. "Really?"

"Yes," Yuuki said, stepping forward. "We-we're only friends, Mr. Susano. We can't be any more than that. At the moment, we're in the middle of a war. Ji--I mean, Kouin, needs to stay focused. I can't distract him with silly things like love. He needs to keep his head on straight."

I blinked. Well, I'll be. If Yuuki was saying that I needed to be less romantic, then it must be true. After all, she seems like the kind of girl who would beg for a boy to love her and treat her like a princess and be all romantic and stuff like that.

"Well," Susano said. "If that's the case then we need to hurry to the shoreline. We can get there by tonight if we speed-walk. Come along! We can get to Western Nippon by tomorrow morning if you'll just hurry it up a little! Except for you, Kouin, time is on your side..."

For not the first and certainly not the last time, I wondered what the crap I was doing here with these weird people.

* * *

Miuri watched as Nokori stood firmly, watching her human and demon enemies proceed up the mountain. This was Miuri's first battle and she was, quite frankly, ready to pee her pants because she was so freaking scared of what could happen.

"Everyone's ready," Kyoufu said, walking up to Nokori.

Nokori looked at him with her wise eyes and he nodded. Kyoufu was sort of like the mouth-piece of Nokori, being that she was unable to speak for herself. Kyoufu understood every little thing that she thought just by glancing at her.

That odd welt of jealousy bubbled up inside Miuri again. This was the second time that day... she shouldn't be feeling jealous. That was stupid.

"You okay?" Kyoufu asked, standing next to her.

Miuri gulped and managed out a quiet yes. She glanced at her somewhat large shuriken, which was something that mainly ninjas used. It was like a throwing star, but usually larger.

Kyoufu looked like he wanted to say something, but quite suddenly he turned and began shouting orders at the demons in their ancient language that Miuri was struggling to learn. One by one, the demons left and jumped down to meet their adversaries.

In the end, it was Nokori, Kyoufu, and Miuri that were left. Nokori turned to Miuri, her red eyes flashing.

Miuri gulped as she heard it in her mind clearly: _Miuri. It would not be wise for you to fight today. I will not stop you, but I would advise against it._

"What?" Miuri cried. "That's not fair! I've been training for so long to help save everyone and now you're saying that I shouldn't fight? I've been working so hard with Kyoufu and Diyu that I haven't slept in days! I... I can't just give it up!"

_Miuri. I will not force you to stop. I am merely saying that you would be happier if you stayed here. If you forgot about the battle. If you never saw Riku._

Miuri's heart lept to her throat and she whispered, "Riku?"

She had thought about him and Jin every day since she had gotten here. She told herself she would be strong for them and show them that she wasn't a big baby. That she would show them that she could take care of herself, no matter what they thought. She wanted to show them that she could manage without them.

Then Miuri turned away. What did Nokori mean that she didn't want to see Riku? Of course she wanted to see him... unless... he was on the other side.

_Ponder these things, child. Now I must be in battle and save the last remnant of our people. Of the great demons that followed Lee's father._

Miuri closed her eyes. Did she really want to see Riku again? Did she really, really, really want to see him again, even if he might not be on the same side as her anymore? Did she love him enough to not care if he was evil? Did she care?

Did she care at all?

"I'm going," Miuri said softly. "I don't care. I... I love Riku. I won't agree with him, but I want to see him. No matter what."

Kyoufu pouted slightly, but quickly hid it. "Okay. Come on, Miuri, and let's send those stupid demons back to hell, where they belong."

"Is that so?" An all too-familiar voice asked. "How wrong I've been..."

"Riku," Miuri whispered, her voice cracking a little bit.

Riku chuckled and Miuri could remember nothing else other than his cruel laughing ringing in her ears.

**A/N- In the next chapter of Red Dreams, a new character will be introduced who has almost the same name as Jin... her name is Gin! The one person that Larka's scared of, and one of the two people that Dravis is scared of. Can't you smell the idiocy?**

**One more thing: What's your favorite pairing for my OC's? Hm? Tell me, reviewers! That's all I've got, but thanks for spending your sweet time with me!  
**


	18. I Wish I Didn't Have Old Friends

**A/N- Thanks, Hell's Harbinger and Catorrina! :)**

**Disclaimer- No OwN.**

Susano was the God of the Sea, yeah? Oh, freaking gosh yeah.

His boat, Mushafune, was huge. Bigger than big. It was probably a kilometer long and half of one high. Larka stated that it looked bigger than the Ark of Yamato, whatever that was. Yuuki didn't seem impressed, but who cares about what she thinks? Dravis swore a couple times after seeing that thing.

"Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Susano laughed, running up the stairs into his ship. "The greatest warrior and God of the Sea is home! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"I still don't get how we were best friends," I muttered, walking up the stairs.

"Su's a weirdy," Larka agreed.

Weirdy? Ha. What an understatement that was. He was a _freak_.

Maybe he was better before I left the past. Maybe he was more fun. Maybe his laugh wasn't quite so creepy. Maybe he didn't have that pot belly or weird beard. Maybe, back then, he was cooler. Then again, I never was cool, so why should my friends be cool?

I glanced at Yuuki, who was walking behind Larka and I. She was softly talking with Dravis, who seemed like he was actually listening to what she was saying.

There was still that thing we had to work out. Yuuki needed to tell me what my past relationship with her was, and how she felt about me now. Because it was now out that she liked the Other-me, even though he was so much older than her, we needed to work out her feelings... not mine, because I already knew mine.

"I wish I could think as simply as you did," Larka said dryly.

"Huh?" I asked blankly.

Larka laughed and sped up a bit. "Trust me. Yuuki's going to make your relationship with her a bit more difficult than it has been. She's a dork that way."

I frowned. You know what? I just don't understand girls. I didn't understand Larka, and I certainly didn't understand Yuuki. I kind of wished that they were like Dravis and I: we both just said whatever we felt, whether it was good or bad.

No. Forget it. I don't want Larka or Yuuki to be like Dravis. He's worse than them both.

"What day is it?" I asked, speeding up to get to Larka.

"... Tuesday, I think," she said.

"Tuesday is my favorite day! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!" I think you can guess who said that.

"Why?" Larka asked, ignoring Susano's loud and freakish laugh. Am I the only one who is freaked out by that laugh? And how much he can do it?!

"I actually meant what day exactly," I stated. "Like, is it the first, second, third? And is it September yet? Seriously, my lack of ability to tell what time of year and what day it is will drive me nuts. I usually don't care, but... urgh..."

Larka stopped walking and stared at me for a moment. Finally, after eight seconds (yes, I kept track...), she burst out laughing.

"What?!" I demanded.

"I'm gonna go Star Wars on ya for a minute, if you don't mind," she said. "Search your senses... feel... use the forks..."

"??" was all I could say.

"Just do it, idiot," she said.

I frowned, yet again. What day was it? A simple question had made her be weird on me. I hated it when she did that. Then again, it was worse when she was being freaky drill Sergeant Larka. I hated it when she was like that.

Suddenly, the date came to me. Without meaning to, I said, "It's September ninth, and the current time is almost ten in the evening."

Larka seemed impressed. "Daaanng. That worked."

"And, yeah, it's Tuesday," I said, walking a little bit faster as I felt my ears turn a touch redder.

For the millionth time, I wished that I didn't like Larka. Why? Because tons of people had told me that it was a bad idea. However, me being a huge rebel and all, I just had to go and think that she was the most amazing girl that I'd ever met. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Plus, it didn't help that Larka was very pretty. Her golden-blond hair fell mid-way to her chest and blue streaks went through her hair. Those streaks helped accent her big blue eyes... her enchanting blue eyes that were like stained-windows into her soul. She was amazing...

I hoped that she hadn't heard what I was thinking.

"I did, dork," Larka said, whose face was more than a little red. "And trust me, you're gonna be achin' in the morning when I'm through with you!"

"Oh, shi-" I began, running up the stairs as fast as my legs would carry me.

Larka was in front of me before I knew what was happening. I quickly skidded to a stop, my eyes wide. Larka was freaking gonna kill me for thinking those lovey-dovey thoughts. I could see it in her eyes; she was giving me the death look.

Larka lept at me and I shouted, "Stop!"

I was, once again, grateful for my ability to stop time.

As I looked at Larka's hateful and angry face, I said sarcastically, "Huh. I think she likes me back."

I sidestepped her and said easily, "All right, time, get going, again!"

And it did. Larka fell down, but did one of those "roll-things" so she wouldn't hurt herself. She sneered at me, her eyes blazing.

"What happened?" Susano asked. "Why is the Moon-girl being cruel to poor Kouin?"

"He's nasty!" she complained. "He doesn't even know how gross it-"

Susano hit Larka in the back of the head. I stared at him. Okay, I didn't see that coming.

"What was that?" Dravis asked in his mild tone that meant he was going to kill whoever he was talking to.

Susano huffed. "She was whining. Just get her inside. I hate whiners."

I stared at the guy. Maybe... maybe we had been best friends at one point. I'm not sure why, but something about him knocking out Larka seemed like that was the kind of crazy thing that I would have done, and in the most unexpected place, too.

"You're not too bad, Susano," I said, grabbing Larka's wrists.

"I'm the greatest warrior ever," he said, folding his arms. "Of course I'm not bad."

Forget it. I take it back.

* * *

I slowly opened my eyes. Had I slept? It didn't feel like it.

I sat up, rubbing my sandy eyes. I had a dream last night... one that I'd been having for a while now. I couldn't remember it, but I knew that I'd had it before.

I glanced around, trying not to sigh. We were still in this huge boat. Last night, as soon as we got on board, Susano showed me to the "Imperial Room," which I had apparently used all the time in the past. It was a little hard to believe, though, because everything was so... fine, I guess.

The bed was huge, big enough for Larka, Dravis, Yuuki, and me all to sleep in it without touching each other once throughout the night. Tons of intricately made candles were everywhere, and a touch of dust was everywhere, indicating that Susano hadn't cleaned it since I had left.

I grabbed my shirt and stared at it. I was still wearing my school uniform, after all this time. Black slacks, a white collared shirt, and I had long-since discarded of the blue tie that had gone with it. My shoes weren't abiding to the school code, being that they Onmyodo brand shoes. They were called Ashioto and were red, black, and white.

They were my favorite shoes.

I laid back down on my bed, not even bothering to pull on my shoes or button up my shirt. I was still tired.

I missed my time. I missed when I didn't have to be haunted by nightmares. I missed when I didn't have to worry about whether I was going to die or not. I missed when I didn't have to look at Larka every day. I missed Miuri and Riku. I was suddenly homesick.

I grabbed one of my thirty-seven pillows and hugged it. I missed when I thought that I was just an average guy who would probably end up working in who knows where and would have two-point-five kids with some mystery girl that I would most likely get divorced with after being together for six and a half years, leaving our children scarred.

I've always had the best expectations, no? No, I've never had good expectations for myself. I've always thought that I was an average kid. I always thought I was an average teenager. I always thought that I would be an average adult.

I stared at the ceiling. What had happened to that? All of the sudden, I was a God who was supposed to save the world from the demons that were planning to do something, that no one really knew except for King Lee, the King of the Demons, who also wanted my head. It made my head spin.

Someone knocked on the door. I groaned loudly, indicating that I didn't want the day to begin.

"We're in Western Nippon, Kouin," Susano called through the door. "You don't have to get up yet, but it would be appreciated."

I sat up, my frown large. I really didn't want to get up at the moment. I was busy brooding about the crazy and weird twists and turns that my life had decided to take all of the sudden. That was so much more fun than having to save the world.

"If you don't get out, Jin, I'm gonna kick your butt while you're not expecting it!" Larka shouted. "Up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up-"

"The real thing to say is shut up!" I shouted, covering my ears. "Shut up, Larka!"

I started doing up my buttons, as quickly as I could. Hopefully, Larka had forgotten enough about yesterday to not kill me or kick my butt or anything along those lines. I shudder to think of the awful things that she would have planned for me. Like a wedgie...

I pushed my hair back, noting that it was starting to get long, down to my shoulders. A little annoying, but I'd have to deal.

I walked out of my "Imperial Room" and saw Larka, leaning against the wall. Her eyes were like little daggers, piercing into my soul. She obviously hadn't forgotten my lovey-dovey episode, no matter how much I had prayed that Susano had knocked it right out of her brain.

"Ugh," I said simply, starting to walk down the hall.

Larka followed me, her eyes burning a hole into the back of my head. I began praying that someone like Yuuki would come along and divert Larka's anger from me to whoever it was that came along. Preferably Yuuki, since she knows how to deal with said thing.

"Ah!" Susano said as we came to the stairs. "I'm glad to see that you're out!"

"Uhh huhhh," I said slowly, quickly walking over to Dravis.

"What do you want?" Dravis asked flatly, glaring at me. Early mornings don't change his attitude towards me, apparently.

"How do you stop that?" I asked, pointing to Larka, who was still glaring at me from behind.

Dravis glanced over, seeming to notice her for the first time. Some boyfriend he was. Dravis shrugged and pulled up his hood as a light rain began falling.

"Dunno. She must be seriously pissed, because she only ever does that to Waka," Dravis stated. "What did you do to her yesterday, anyway? Yuuki and I were... talking about something that she was interested in, so I didn't catch what happened."

"... Uh..." I didn't want two people to get mad at me.

I glanced at Yuuki, hoping to change the conversation. She was wearing a new, purple yukata with a green hanten (a hanten is a jacket to go over a kimono), being that it was getting colder and colder. I suddenly wished that I had a jacket to keep me warm.

"New clothes," I said.

"Yup," she answered, looking away.

Quite suddenly, I remembered what Larka had said yesterday about Yuuki making my relationship harder. I guess that Yuuki was also gonna make it more awkward. Again, I'll never understand what goes through a girl's mind.

"Where are we, Su?" Larka asked, still glaring at me.

"Hiyugo," Susano answered. "City of the great Gin, richest woman in the world! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Larka's glare left me and she stared at Dravis in horror, who returned the look. I frowned. Gin... it sounded like... my name. Funny. I hoped that Susano wasn't talking about me in private.

"I'll hurry and leave while I still can," Dravis said quickly. "She'll kill me if I stay."

"What do you mean?" Yuuki and I asked at the same time.

Larka turned to me. "There's no time to be angry at you, Jin, because we need to get out of here! Gin is the woman who is like-"

"Larka?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask. "Is that... is that you?"

At the bottom of the steps stood a woman. She was in a long-sleeved shirt and wore capris. Her hair was short, fluffy, and bounced as she titled her head. What was odd, though, was that she had ears on top of her head and a little tail, just like Larka. The only difference was that she had more lynx-ish ears and tail.

Larka took a step back, shielding Dravis from view. I could only wonder what was going on.

"It is youuu!" The young woman squealed. "Larkaaaa!"

Larka jumped off the stairs onto the shore, running as soon as she had recovered from the five meter drop. The young woman was faster than Larka, though, and quickly caught up. The instant she was running side-by-side with Larka, she talked the younger girl to the ground with a tackle-hug.

"Whoa," I said blankly.

"Thank you, Larka," Dravis said. "I'll be back as soon as you guys are out of town."

With that said, Dravis jumped off the stairs, to the other side. He transformed into his demon-wolf form, running even faster than he had before. I watched him go in confusion. What was up? I didn't get it. What had freaked... them... out... ?

It came to me. That girl seemed sort of like Rosco in the way that she talked, the way that she acted, the way that she smiled. This woman must be the person that they were scared of.

I shivered at the thought and turned to Yuuki, who was looking at Larka in confusion. "I don't get it," she said lamely.

"Hey everyone!" the young woman called. "I caught me a Larka! Hee hee!"

Yes. Rosco-like, indeed.

"That is Gin, the richest woman in the world," Susano said. "And she would have been one of your lovers if she hadn't only cared about money and putting bows on Dravis and tackle hugging, or glomping, as she calls it, and eating good foods and reading books with many drawings inside from the future."

"Huh?" I asked blankly.

"Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Susano laughed.

I don't think that I'll ever understand this creepy man.

The young woman, Gin, was pulling Larka by her tail over to us. Gin seemed perfectly happy, not noticing that Larka was trying desperatly to escape from her grasp. In fact, while Gin was skipping merrily, Larka was trying to grab the sand in an attempt to get away from Gin.

"She's strong," Yuuki said.

"Nn," I agreed.

Gin waved happily up at us, then noticed me. She frowned slightly.

"Kouin? Is that you?"

Why did I change my name? If I had kept it "Kouin" then I wouldn't be nearly as confused when people called me that. Having an alias was just annoying by a certain point. Actually, I was thinking about calling myself Kouin for an entire day so I could get used to that stupid name all over again.

"Yes," I answered finally.

"Jerk!" she shouted, letting go of Larka. "It's been years, you idiot! Dang, I'm pissed now because I saw your stupid face! You haven't given me money for years and not a single piece of manga for even longer! Did you finally lose interest in me, or something?! Because there's nothing out there better than me!"

I was purely amazed at how humble Gin was.

"Now you're dead meat, buster!" Gin growled. "I'm gonna kick your butt so hard, you'll die a tragic and terrible death but you won't be able to be buried because the pieces of you will be too tiny to find! Now get me some stuff with L on it or you'll be mincemeat, freak!"

"... Huh?" I asked. "First of all, I'm sorry, but I can't remember you. Second of all, I have no money. Thirdly, who is L?!"

"Oh," Gin said simply. "Right. You lost your memory. Why don't we go to my house and talk about this? I was already expecting some visitors, so..."

* * *

Gin's "house" was actually a palace. And, in that palace, there was money everywhere. You couldn't step anywhere without disturbing a pile of money. At first, I was tempted to take some, but then Gin started talking about how much money she had _exactly_.

Apparently, she has three billion two hundred twenty-eight million six hundred fifty-six thousand three hundred and forty-two yen. Now, if that's not filthy stinkin' rich, I have no clue what is.

Also, if you weren't stepping on money, you were stepping on manga. Some of which I recognized, while others I didn't. Pictures were hung up on the walls of two anime guys: one had crazy black hair and no eyebrows and the other was an alien or something.

"I'd make you some tea," Gin said, plopping down on a sofa. "But I'm not sure where my tea set went. I think my money ate it."

She said it a bit too seriously for my liking, and I edged away from the money I was almost sitting on. Larka continued to stand up. Yuuki was staring at the money, obviously in amazement about how much money Gin had.

"Who's the company, Gin?" Larka asked flatly.

"Oh, Lar-Lar, you're so serious!" Gin giggled. "It's Mr. Snuffy-Bunny, of course!"

Larka paled. "Mr. Snuffy-Bunny?"

"Yup," she answered.

_Who the heck was Mr. Snuffy-Bunny?!_ I demanded of myself.

"We're gonna be here for a while," Larka said firmly. "Gin, do you mind if we..." she shuddered. "Stay... here..."

Gin stood up and "glomped" Larka. "Oh, yes yes yes yes yes, little Lar-Lar! I'm so so so so so happy! You've never asked me that before! You always run away from me, screaming something like I'm crazy or whatever. And now you can see Mr. Snuffy-Bunny, too!"

"I'm here!" a voice that I recognized shouted. "Where are you, Ginny-poo?"

I shuddered, feeling my eyes widen. That voice... please... it sounded too much like him. I didn't want it to be him, but it couldn't be anyone but-

"We're in here, Mr. Snuffy-Bunny! Lar-Lar is here and so is Koi and Yuwa!" Gin shouted.

Rosco poked his head in and his smile expanded. I stood up, wincing. It was the man that I'd wished to never meet ever again... and now he was here.

"Oh you, Ginny-poo!" Rosco laughed. "You already have guests! You could have told me, little cutie!"

"Oh you, Mr. Snuffy-Bunny!" Gin laughed right back. "I didn't know Lar-Lar and Koi and Yuwa were coming over today! It was a surprise visit from them! Isn't that just oodles and oodles of fun little noodles?! Now we can have tons of fun with everyone!"

"Yay!" Rosco shouted happily.

And so, right then, my personal hell on earth began.

**A/N- And so the wonderful Gin in introduced. Ain't she a treat? Please review if you have to time to!**


	19. Just A Few Surprises

**A/N- Thanks, Catorrina-chan and McKayla ()! :D  
**

**Disclaimer- If I owned Okami, then Red Dreams would be MAANNNGA! Wa hoo!**

"Ah ha ha ha ha! Oh, Lar Lar, how can you be so frowny? It's just a silly little war," Rosco said, smiling happily.

Larka glared at him flatly. For the last hour, she had been trying to convince him that the war was real, and that Dravis believed in it, too. I'm not exactly sure why Rosco would care what his nephew would think about politics, but it was sort of whatever... er, yeah.

"And I'm not giving you any money unless the cutie-pie emo comes here and lets me dress him up again," Gin stated, folding her arms. "Dravis is totally amazerifical."

Was amazerifical a word? Because I had _never ever _heard something like that.

We had been talking about this for about an hour or so. Gin was unwilling to give up a single yen unless we brought Dravis and let her dress him up. And Rosco was in complete denial of the war, not believing that there could possibly be such a thing happening.

"I'm tired," I muttered.

"Shut up," Larka answered, frowning.

Not only was I still tired from last night and the weird dream that I couldn't remember whatsoever, but I was hungry. It was about ten in the morning now, and I hadn't eaten a single bite of food since last night, with the crazy Susano... and his weird freaking laugh. It still freaked me out.

I glanced sleepily at Yuuki. She had long-since picked up a manga and began reading. Something like Hellsing, or whatever. I don't read that much manga, and when I do, it's usually some sort of comedy. Maybe I'm just weird like that.

"I like Alucard," she said after a moment of me staring at her.

Dang, that was a little random, now that I think about it.

"I do, too," Gin gushed, rushing over to Yuuki. "He's so freaking awesome! Especially when he just falls apart and comes back together laughing! And- hey, wait a minute, who said that you could read my manga?! Give it back!"

"Nooo!" Yuuki cried. "I have to know how it ends!"

We were so not getting anywhere with this. We needed to find out how to solve this war, not figure out how a stupid manga ended. I stood up, folding my arms, and glaring at Gin, Rosco, and Yuuki. Not Larka because she would just return the glare, and glare better than me.

"If I get Dravis over here, which shouldn't be too hard, then will you help us, Gin?" I asked simply.

Gin looked up in surprise. "Well... duh! If you get Dwavy-poo over here, then I'll be more than happy to give you money!"

I nodded and glanced at Larka, who growled/frowned at me. She already knew what I was thinking, and did not like it. It was the only way to get Dravis to face his two greatest fears, though: to have me hit on Larka.

Dravis probably had some sort of boyfriend-senses, so if I tried to hit on Larka, then he would come running, swear at me, and then Larka could tie him up so that Gin could dress him up. However, I do wonder _how _she would dress him up. Make him a pretty boy? What would she do to him?

"I'm not gonna do that!" Larka growled.

"Please," I said. "Hear me out, Larka. I'm not doing it so I have a reason to call you hot or whatever; I'm doing this so we can help defeat Lee."

"If you wanna defeat Lee, then go beat him up," Larka retorted snottily.

"You piss me off sometimes," I said smoothly.

Larka's eyes flashed. "What was that?"

I rolled my eyes at her and said, "As if you didn't hear me. You piss me off sometimes."

"Oh dear," Gin said.

I'm sure you've noticed by this point that I don't often loose my temper because I'm a pretty big pacifist. Well, I used to be, but not as much anymore. Wait, what was the point of this paragraph?

Oh, right, right. So you've probably noticed that when I loose my temper, oh boy do I loose my temper. When I'm mad, I also get this weird smile on face... or, at least, that's what Miuri always told me. That I got this weird smile on my face when I got mad and I looked like I would take a knife and put it through someone's head.

Does this happen to the average teenager? I sure hope not.

"Oh, like you've never pissed anyone off!" Larka snapped.

"Larka, how I ever fell for a jerkish idiot who should die in a hole like you is beyond my reasoning!" I snapped right back. "Dravis is too good for you, and he's a freaking demon from hell! You should just go shut yourself up in a closet and commit suicide! I know I don't want you around."

Larka's eyes narrowed. "... what?"

"You drive me nuts!" I shouted. "You act like you're the greatest thing in the world and nobody's better than you, but that's not true at all! You're rotten to the core and I hate it about you, Larka. You need to stop acting like you're the best thing in the world and realize that you're not. You need to grow up a little."

"Grow... up?"

I think that this was a revolutionary idea to Larka. Growing up, I mean. She seemed to have never even have considered that she wasn't the God's gift to man.

Tears came into her eyes, angry ones. "You could never know what I've gone through, Jin! You'll never understand what I've had to give up so that you can be here, alive, today! You have no idea how much I hate you! How much my mom loves you... it's sickening! I'm her daughter, but she'll chose you over me any day of the week!"

"What about me? Have you ever thought about me?!" I demanded.

"You guys-" Rosco began, stepping forward.

I turned to him, my eyes flaming. "Rosco, this isn't about you! Larka and I have kept our feelings bottled up for way too long! So shut up and stay out of it!"

Rosco's eyes saddened, but he took a step back. Gin grabbed his and Yuuki's arms, murmuring something to each of them before leading them out of the room. I was thankful to Gin for that moment, but I knew that my thankfulness probably wouldn't last.

I turned back to Larka, still glaring. Her fists shook and she was obviously struggling to not burst out crying or beat me up.

"If you hate me so much," I said so softly that she could barely hear, "then why don't you just kill me, Larka?"

"Because I love Dravis too much to let the one person who can save us die," she whispered just as quietly, her voice shaking with pure fury. "I'm the only thing that he's got left, and I'm going to make sure that it's worthwhile. That _I'm _worthwhile."

"You failed miserably," I answered flatly.

I wasn't sure where these feelings of pure anger were coming from, but they were there now. Just about twelve hours ago, I thought that I really liked Larka, more than I should since she had a boyfriend. Now I was blinded by fury.

Tears began to fall down her cheeks and she shouted, "Stop it! Stop it! I... I hate you! I hate you so much! I'm not perfect! Stop... stop it! Why can't we just talk for a minute, Jin? I'm tired of-"

I turned away from her. "We have nothing to say to each other, Larka. We made a mistake in thinking that we could travel together, be friends, all of those things. Who were we kidding? I tried to delude myself with feelings of love in hopes that I would manage to stay here and save the world. That was a mistake. I'm leaving."

I opened the screen door that lead to the balcony. I jumped onto a branch from a tree that was close to the palace. I then slid downward, giving myself a couple of splinters.

I looked back up and didn't see Larka. She didn't care that I was leaving. In fact, she was probably happy that I was finally gone. That Jin, or Kouin, the God of Time, was finally gone. That he was finally going to disappear from her life. She didn't care.

Part of me screamed out against running away from this. I was just running away from the problem. But it was so much easier to just run away from my problems, rather than facing them. Maybe it was a bad choice in the long run, but for now, I didn't really care. I didn't want to be here.

The question crossed through my mind: where would I go?

I would find myself. I would find the part of me that I was missing. I would find out about my past. I would learn who I was, where I came from, what I was doing here, and how I knew Yuuki. I would find out how to kill Lee. I would find myself... alone. It was the only way to do it.

I closed my eyes at the gates that left Gin's property. Was I willing to do this? Was I strong enough?

Would I survive?

_Jin... this is a path that you must take for now. Go._

The voice... one that I had not heard in what seemed like forever. The voice of Amaterasu, who I wished would tell me to go back, for some reason. I didn't want to leave, and yet I wanted to fiercely. It felt like I was being torn in half.

No. Amaterasu had told me that I needed to do this. I would go.

I stepped outside of Gin's property and into my new world.

* * *

Riku stared forward, his eyes saying nothing, his face expressionless. If it weren't for the slight rise and fall of his chest, Miuri would have thought that he was a statue.

It was still hard to believe how different he looked. His once-black hair that had been shoulder-length was now snow-white and was in a ponytail and fell to his waist. His eyes flickered from sea-blue to blood-red and he now looked like he was in his mid-twenties.

Miuri wondered how he could remain so still. How he could just stand there while she was in chains. How he could have no expression on his face as blood dried on the back of her head from where he had hit her. How he could just act to calm and natural. It was... unnatural, she supposed.

Kyoufu wasn't here. She wasn't sure where he went, since Riku wouldn't speak to her.

"So, are you Miuri, then?" A familiar voice asked. Miuri looked up. Lee.

She had known him best by the fact that they had been on the same soccer team for a while. All that she had really caught from him was that he really didn't like Jin, but didn't have a very good reason for hating him. Or he just didn't have a reason.

That was, of course, back when she was a bubbly girl who was excited by the fact that they were having Korean food for dinner. Now, of course, Miuri was still herself; the only difference was that she wasn't nearly as happy and stupid and innocent as she had been before.

"You know me, Lee," Miuri replied snidely.

Lee chuckled. He looked different, too. Not as different as Riku, but still different. Lee looked like he was eighteen instead of fifteen, now. Miuri couldn't help but wonder if she looked different now, too. And if she would be able to recognize Jin the next time that she saw him. That is, _if _she ever saw him again.

"True, true, Miuri," Lee murmured. "It's just that you're so filthy. When was the last time that you took a bath?"

Miuri winced. She hadn't taken a bath for about three days and had been training tons over the past few days. Of course she probably smelled a little bit bad and looked a little smudgy. Who was she kidding? She probably looked awful.

"Are you gonna sit here, flapping your jaws, or are you gonna tell me why you're here?" Miuri asked flatly, trying to sound braver than she felt. _Much_ braver than she felt.

Lee knelt down so he was face-to-face with her. "Why, yes, yes I am, Miuri."

Miuri looked away from him. She couldn't take the intensity that was boiling from his eyes. Something about the hardness in his eyes made her feel much smaller and weaker than she was. His eyes were black like coals and showed no warmth. They could pierce fear into the bravest of hearts.

"You see, Jin loves his friends," Lee said coolly. "He loves his friends a lot. He probably still hasn't completely accepted that Riku is on my side now. If I have you here and I bargain with him, he'll most likely do anything for you. Perhaps even give up his powers as a god."

Miuri shivered at the thought. Not because she didn't believe that Jin would do such a thing, but because she knew that he would. Jin would do anything for his friends. He was more loyal than a dog to its master. He would do anything for Miuri if he found out that she was in trouble.

"As soon as I have the God of Time in my grasp, the rest of the world will be easy. True, the D. A. K. L. S. might be a bit of an... annoyance, I suppose, but I can assure you that as soon as the God of Time is down, they will feel that they have nothing left to fight for and give up on hope. It would be easy pickings from there." Lee smirked. "With you here, I can do anything."

"What did you do with Kyoufu?" Miuri asked softly, her fists clenching. She needed to change the subject before she ripped her arms out of the chains, resulting in her being hand-less.

Lee laughed softly, and it reminded Miuri of Light Yagami's from Death Note. Frightening, disturbing, psychotic, and oddly interesting to listen to. Miuri pushed the thought out of her mind. She had more important things to do than think about anime.

"The little demon that was with you? It's getting the crap beat out of him," Lee laughed out. "Whipped. It's a traitor to the demons, and they are always beat until they are on the brink of death. Afterwords, we put them in the Cell of Hell to rot forever more. It'll die within the week."

Miuri's eyes widened. There was no way that it was true. No way that Kyoufu would die. He was too strong. Too great. There was no way that he would die.

"I don't believe you," she said flatly.

"Believe what you wish," Lee said offhandedly. "But it'll be dead soon enough. If Riku begs enough, then maybe we'll take it out of the Cell of Hell and burn its body instead of leaving it in there forever. You'd better beg pretty hard with Riku, though. He may really like you, but he really likes me more."

Miuri glanced at Riku, who was now looking away. His face looked somewhat pained as Lee spoke of him.

"Now, no hard feelings intended, but I'm going to leave you here and-" Lee began, but a small demon interrupted him.

"Sire! Sire! We just received word from our scouts! Kouin has left Larka and Yuuki for an unknown reason! Right now, he's heading down the coast, sire!"

Lee lifted an eyebrow. "Really? Is that true? Well, well. This is the perfect time to meet up with dear old Jin and tell him that we've got his best friend captive. Little... demon, I suppose, do have packs prepared from Riku and I."

"Yes, sire," the little demon said, bowing.

Miuri felt horror enter her face as she realized what Lee meant. Jin had left the safeness of being around the Moon Goddess and the Holy High Priestess to be alone. If Lee found Jin while he didn't have his full Godly powers, then there was no way that Jin would survive.

Lee glanced at Miuri and saw her horrified expression. "Hm. I suppose we should take this wretch with us, as well."

Miuri felt tears enter her eyes and she shook her head. Jin would be killed. She couldn't take that.

_Please, Amaterasu! _she wailed in her mind. _Be with Jin! Don't let him get killed! Please don't take your eyes off him! Keep him safe!_

_

* * *

_Larka looked down dumbly. It was done. She had told him to go away. She had done it.

Yuuki looked around, confused. "I just... I just don't understand. We were getting along. All of us. We were getting used to Dravis and Jin's bickering. So, um... what happened between you guys? It just sort of happened. Did you say something?"

Larka's eyes flickered. She may have gotten mad at Jin, but that wasn't anything new. It was probably the fact that she had told him that she hated him. Which was half-true. Half of her hated him, while the other half of her loved him. She was torn in half.

"I don't know," she answered flatly, pulling her knees up to her chin.

Yuuki frowned and sighed. Larka knew that she was being unhelpful, but she didn't really care at the moment.

"Did he say something to you?" Yuuki asked.

Larka shrugged, hugging her knees. Yuuki frowned at her and put her hands on her waist. Larka knew what that meant...

"Honestly, Larka, I'm trying to be sympathetic and help you out a bit, but how am I supposed to do that if you won't even let me know what's wrong? You and Jin are so alike in the way that you're both more stubborn than... than... well, I don't know, because you guys are indescribably stubborn!" Yuuki cried, exhasperated.

Larka glared at her, still silent. "Do you know why I'm so pissed at him?"

"Yes!" Yuuki cried.

"It's because my mom loves him more than me," Larka said. "I hate him because he's more loved than me. I've been asking for years for a time so that I could save the world and be the greatest. Jin never asked for a mission. But then he gets one and I'm stuck being his stupid side-kick. And you know why he's head-honcho? Because my mom loves him more than me."

"I know this is hard for you, but-" Yuuki began.

"No!" Larka cried, standing up. "He's my frère and that's why I can't help but love him! Do you know what frère even means?!"

Yuuki looked sadly at Larka. "Dravis told me... "

"I have no choice but to love him..." Larka said softly, tears falling down her cheeks and falling to her knees. "I have no choice. He's my frère. He's my only brother."

**A/N- WHOA! Betcha didn't see that comin'! **


	20. I'm Feeling Angsty, I Suppose

**A/N- I have nothing to say.  
**

**Disclaimer- Isn't this site called fanfiction?**

I slowly looked up at the stars. It felt good to walk all day. Which was a little odd. Maybe it was because of everything that had happened within the last week. Things had gotten crazy, and now it felt good just walk and be alone for a little while.

I smiled. Yeah, it was probably a good thing that I had left. Larka wouldn't miss me. Yuuki might, but she'd get over it. Gin barely knew me. And I really didn't care that much how Rosco felt.

I had pulled off my shoes and socks and was now just walking along the beach. I had been to the beach only twice in my life that I remember, so it felt really nice to just walk along the beach and let the water lap up against my feet. Maybe that's a little weird, but I don't care!

"Oi! Jin?! Is that you?!" I heard someone call.

I turned and saw Dravis. Which quite ended my happy mood. My mouth instantly turned into a frown.

"What do you want?" I asked flatly.

Dravis frowned right back at me. "What are you doing here? This is pretty far from Gin's house."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I replied snidely.

You know, Miuri told me once that I was a little bit immature. And, gee whiz, she was pretty spot-on. I'm very childish, and I'm also very proud of it. So, with that in mind, you can probably guess how I reacted when Dravis told me to f off.

I grabbed the front of his shirt, my eyes icy cold. "And what was that, Dravis? Are you wanting to screw around with me too, just like your idiot girlfriend did? Because, ya know, I'm really not in the mood to screw around with a bastard like you."

Dravis's eyes widened for a half of a second before they narrowed. "What the hell is up with you?"

I kicked him in the shin. Dravis glared at me. I could see that it hurt him, but he wasn't about to flinch in the presence of me.

"Get away from me. Stay away from me. Never speak to me again," I said easily. "And if you do, I'm afraid that I'll have to put some godly wrath upon you. I don't care if that ruins Larka's life, I really don't. I just don't want people to think that they're better than me. So go away."

I threw Dravis back, letting go of his shirt. Dravis glared at me, clenching his fists. I chuckled softly.

"It's funny. You look so much like Larka when you're mad. Maybe you two truly are meant to be together forever. See ya... and if I do, you're dead," I said, throwing a wave over my shoulder as I walked away from Dravis, who was still glaring at me.

So, I told you that I'm pretty childish, yes? Well, Dravis is just as childish as I am. Perhaps even more so.

Dravis kicked me in the back. Just before I fell down, I thought to myself, _Stop! _in hopes that it might work. And, to my amazement, it did. Time, once again, stopped for me but not for anyone else. Dravis was frozen in his ninja-kick thing.

"Wimp," I growled. "Kicking someone in the back!"

I kicked Dravis in the stomach and he was unfrozen when my foot impacted with his stomach. Dravis fell back a few feet and glared at me, his usually grayish-blackish eyes turning a blood red. Fangs erupted from his mouth and claws from his fingers. I could tell he was mad now.

However, I just rolled my eyes. Why? Because there was no way that a little demon could beat up a god.

Dravis transformed into his demon-wolf form, and, the instant that he was in that form, he jumped at me, growling loudly. In reply, I took out my pen, hoping, no, _begging _for it to have turned into a sword somehow. I still had no clue how to use it.

To my relief, it turned into a samurai-type sword. Dravis growled at it, baring his teeth. I pushed against Dravis with my sword and the blade cut into his paws. Dravis yelped and jumped back. He then got into a fighting position.

I quickly stood up, glaring at him. "I've been waiting, I suppose, to kill you, Dravis."

Dravis rushed at me, going for my legs. I jumped to the side, but kicked him while I did so. Dravis rolled over a couple of times, then jumped back up, his eyes glowing with pure fury.

He, once again, jumped at me. I brought up my sword, but he dodged it and bit my arm instead of my sword. I cried out, took my sword, and pushed it through his stomach. Dravis's eyes widened and he let go of me. He fell to the ground and slowly stood up.

Blood dripped from Dravis's muzzle and stomach. He panted softly and I could see him shaking.

"Another day," he growled at me. "I'll kill you another day."

I turned from him and allowed time to begin flowing. I glanced back once. Dravis was slowly making his way from me, probably going to Gin's house to talk to Larka about me. As though I really cared, though. He could bleed to death for all that I cared.

Dang, I was seriously pissed off again. Ever since I came to the past, I've been getting more and more easily angered. Maybe it was because I'm an angsty teenager. Either way, I was getting POed about being POed. Why didn't it go away? WHY OH WHY?!

I frowned. I needed to get a better hobby rather than saving the world.

* * *

"I can't believe he would do such a thing," Yuuki whispered, wrapping the cloth around Dravis's chest. "Jin's been acting so weird lately... and I don't believe that he would just start stabbing you like you say that he did. It's just not something that he would do."

"We fought. He tried to kill me and I tried to kill him. End of story," Dravis muttered.

Yuuki sighed and tied off the knot. She had heard stories about the God of Time being someone that was bloody and cruel when she was really little, but when she first met him... well, he had seemed so nice and sweet. Now, though, that Yuuki was much older, she couldn't help but wonder if the stories were true.

Larka stared at Dravis flatly, her hair falling into her eyes. Yuuki gently sighed at this. Larka hadn't said a word since she had seen Dravis and he had told his story of meeting up with Jin. What they needed right now was a leader, but everyone (even Gin and Rosco to some extent) was down in the dumps.

"Maybe we should go after him," Yuuki said softly.

"Don't you have any better ideas than Jin this or Jin that?" Dravis growled. "I know that you like the guy and all, but is that all that is on your mind? The guy is our enemy now and there's nothing we can do about it! So I'd like you to get over the guy and think of him as what he is; an idiotic enemy who deserves to burn in hell, just like I have!"

Dravis winced, and touched his stomach gently. He was straining himself too much.

"I know this is hard for you to understand," she said. "But Jin has always been different. I asked him, one day, when I was a little girl, what came after winter. Instead of saying spring like a normal person would, he said that life came. Jin is burdened with being different and there's nothing we can do about it."

Dravis looked down, biting his bottom lip. Yuuki glanced at Larka, who had closed her eyes. Gin was in another room, counting her money. Rosco was trying to accept the fact that the war was real in his guest room. Nobody seemed fit to be a leader right now.

_I guess, _she thought, _I'll have to take things into my own hands for right now._

Yuuki stood up and brushed off her dress. She then walked into the room next to what was thought to be the living room (it was overflowing with money to the point that no one knew what it was anymore) and stood in front of Gin, who was examining some sort of sparkling gem.

"We need your support, Gin. Now more than ever. If you don't help us, then we won't be able to get any nobles on our side," Yuuki stated. "Gin, we need you."

Gin blinked and looked up from her gem. "Eh? You need me?"

"Yes, Gin. We need you. Everything is turning rotten, but you can help us out," Yuuki said. "We need your help. We need you to help save the world from the demons. The other Jin is gone now, so we need to have as much support as possible."

Gin folded her arms, thought for a moment, then stuck out her hand. "It's a deal if you don't read Hellsing anymore. It's too mature for a girly-girl like you."

Yuuki pouted, but shook Gin's hand. "Fine."

The young girl sighed as she let go of the young woman's hand. She would have to be in control as the leader for a little while, only until Larka got better. When Larka got better, Yuuki would obviously step down since she was the least likely to want to be a ruler.

Yuuki then closed her eyes, sighing. Jin was so stupid, sometimes. She only wished that he was okay.

"Are you thinking about Jin? 'Cause you're whole face is red," Gin observed.

Yuuki's face turned redder. Is it just me, or does Yuuki have a great ability at blushing? I think it might just be me, the author.

"I still think I should be able to dress Dravis up, though," Gin said, pouting slightly. "It would be fun to make him into a pretty little girly-girl... sort of like you but with prettier clothes since I can afford them. And lots of bows. And make-up. And high-heels."

"Right now, he can't get dressed-up. He's too..." Yuuki frowned slightly, trying to find the right words. "Hurty."

"I see," Gin said, obviously not understanding.

Yuuki rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. Slowly, she began to bite her bottom lip. She hoped that Jin was okay.

* * *

"I still can't believe that I'm a God." Ethan said, his eyes wide after another lengthy conversation with Ai about it. "It's... really, really weird."

Ai nodded, pulling her knees up to her chin. It was a little bit odd that this guy was a god... but, then again, Jin was a god and if that wasn't weird than nothing was.

"And I'm Tachigami, the God of... what? Great slashes, was that it? Kind of funny, I can't remember my own powers or whatever. Anyways, do you suppose that I could get us out of here?" Ethan asked, sounding like a little boy who had just received the gift of his dreams.

Ai shrugged. "I'm hoping so."

Ethan stood up somewhat shakily and Ai noticed how skinny he was, once again. It was obvious that they had not fed him very much in the few weeks that he had been here. Ai felt her stomach slightly growl and remembered that she hadn't eaten anything for several days. She was getting really hungry.

He closed his eyes, still frowning. Ai watched as he thought for a moment. Then, finally, he opened his eyes, walked up to the door, and kicked it.

"I... can't... think... of... anything!" He growled, glaring at the door. "How'm I supposed to get out of this dump of I can't do anything about any of this crap?! I need a sword or something if I wanna get out of here and use great slashes or whatever! Rrrghh!"

He sat on the floor, pouting slightly. Ai stared at him in silence. He was pretty darn childish.

"Maybe I can help you out," Ai said, standing up and brushing the dirt off her skirt. "I mean, I may be just a little girl who happens to know the God of Time and is in prison for no particular reason, but who knows? I may be able to do something about this stuff."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Was that supposed to be funny?"

"I've got my brother's sense of humor..." Ai replied, touching the door. "And he's only funny when he gets hurt."

Ethan snorted at this and stood up. He looked the door over and looked out the tiny window that was the only source of light. He frowned slightly, staring at the... well, whatever he was staring at. Ai was too short to look out the window.

"What? What is it?" she asked.

Ethan looked down. "I see a sword... but I can't use it."

Ai stared at him in confusion. Of course he couldn't use it, it wasn't in their cell! And like anyone would be stupid enough to put a freaking sword in the cell of the God of Great Slashes... well, maybe some of the idiots that tried to run this prison, but most people wouldn't.

Ai blinked as a sword broke its way through the steel doors, right next to her foot. She looked up at Ethan, still blinking.

"Right. Sorry, I don't know what I'm doing," he grunted, staring at the sword.

"You... you did that?" Ai asked, sounding somewhat fearful.

"Yup," he answered. "I... think."

The sword began moving upward slowly, lurching slightly as it went. When it hit the window, it began going downward. It was slowly making a hole for them to get out. Sure, this isn't what Ai had expected Ethan to do, but it was still really cool.

The steel part of the door that had been cut out fell backwards, making a loud crashing noise. Ethan grabbed the sword that was on the ground and grinned at Ai, grabbing her wrist.

"Time to run," he said.

Ethan ran much faster than Ai did. Mainly because he was much older, but also because he had longer legs. Ai was barely able to keep up, and the reason that she was able to was that Ethan was pulling her along by the wrist. With him doing that, she didn't have much of a choice but to follow.

Just before they turned around a corner, Ethan suddenly stopped and pushed himself against the wall. He then grabbed Ai and pushed her against the wall next to him. He looked around the corner, then snapped back to where he was before.

"What is it?" Ai whispered.

"A really big wolf with dragon wings," he answered softly. "Like a demon or something."

Ai blinked. She really didn't want to see what it looked like. Just by the sound of it, it was scary, and Ai couldn't handle scary things very well. In fact, she usually cried.

"What do we do?" she asked.

Ethan frowned and looked around. There was no alternate way to get out. They had to get out of here through that entrance, and that meant that they would have to go through that demon-wolf. Not a good thing, since he was a novice god and he had a little girl with him.

Ai watched as Ethan thought. Quite suddenly, his face lit up. He ran out with his sword and threw it at the wolf.

"Are you nuts?!" she demanded.

The teenager grinned at her. "Yup."

The wolf easily dodged the sword, and turned to face them, growling. The sword, even though it missed, just turned around and slashed at the demon-wolf's dragon-like tail. The wolf yelped and turned around in confusion. There was no one there, after all.

"Use the force," Ethan said, hitting the wolf on the head with the flat part of his sword. "I dunno, feels like something outta Star Wars."

Although Ai had no clue what in the heck Star Wars was, she knew that he was using his powers. Just by moving his hand around, he could change where he wanted the sword to go. He still wasn't completely sure of what he was doing, but at least they weren't about to rot in a cell for all time.

"Fetch," Ethan said, throwing the sword far away. To Ai's surprise, the demon-wolf followed the sword, racing after it.

"And now we go," Ethan stated, grabbing Ai's wrist and pulling her along again.

She ran, and, the moment that they got out of the Moon Cave, took in a huge breath, closing her eyes. Fresh air. Fresh air with hints of rain. It had just rained, or it was about to rain. It didn't really matter to Ai, because it was just great to be outside after several days of being stuck inside of that cell.

"Airrr..." Ethan mumbled, stopping for a second. "Reaalll... airrr..."

Ai stared at him and giggled softly. Who knew that breathing fresh air could make two people so happy?

"Right, we're in a jail break," Ethan said, opening his eyes. "We need to run away. And look, mainland looks like it's only a mile away. Lucky there are those little rocks that we can jump on. Come on, let's a-go help save the world!"

Ai stared at him, frowning slightly as he pulled her along. He was an odd sort of person. She had always heard in her father's stories that Gods were powerful, kind, smart, humble, and wise, but he couldn't be much farther from the truth. So far, they all seemed to be geeks that had played one too many video games.

Then again... they at least seemed to be good people. Not even or mean or anything. Nice, good people who were always willing to help some people.

After they jumped onto the third rock, Ethan looked back. "Don't worry. I'll come back and help the rest of you guys get outta there."

Ai blinked a couple of times. Yeah... Ethan was really nice. A little bit weird and headstrong, but he was still really nice. That had to count for something in godliness.

And, then again, maybe it didn't. Who knew with these people being gods?

* * *

Lee stared in an upward direction. A little bit to the left, as well. Anyway, he was staring at the sky, deep in thought.

Soon, soon. They would be resurrected. Orochi. Ninetails. And, if he gained enough power, then he would bring back Yami. But only after he was powerful enough to be able to control the Dark Lord. If he gained enough power to be able to do that, though, then there would be no real point in doing such a thing.

Lee glanced over to Miuri. She was an average girl who had been blessed by the Sun Goddess. That much was obvious. It had given her more power than she knew. Her wicked soccer kick could send someone across the field and beyond. As though she knew that, though.

The young Demon King obviously wasn't about to tell her that, though. If he did, then he could expect a swift kick to the face and a one-way ticket to Hell, which wasn't Lee's idea of a good time. Yes, to keep himself alive, he needed to not tell her about this power that she held in her... erm, leg.

"Your idiocy?" the girl who he was just thinking of asked bitterly. "Is your name really Lee? Because that seems much to simpe to be a jerk's name."

Lee chuckled, glancing at her. "No, it's not my name. It's much easier to pronounce though than my real name."

"And what is your real name, then?" Miuri challenged.

Lee took in a deep breath before saying, "It's Leeamiasoriousaitiaru. Lee is just oh so much easier to pronounce, though, don't you think?"

Miuri stared at him like he was crazy and Lee chuckled again. Making people confused, angry, fearful, troubled, hateful, sad, hopeless or any negative emotion was almost too easy for Lee to do. He could just give them a look at it would work.

"Is Jin close?" Lee asked Riku. "I'm still unused to his presence, so..."

"A mile to the north," Riku answered simply.

"Is anyone with him?" Lee asked.

Riku sighed, closing his eyes. "No... no, there's not."

Lee's mouth quivered, threatening to become a cruel smile. Jin was so close. He could almost smell him. Soon, the God of Time would be in the Cell of Hell. Then, nothing could stop him from taking this world away from the puny humans that thought they ruled it.

Tonight, there would be blood on these sands.

**A/N- Okayyy... yeah. Pretty much. Please review. Uh huh. YUP. That's pretty much it.  
**


	21. Well, This is a Crappy Battle

**A/N- Thanks for the two reviews, Catorrina! And you too, ZAP IS ZAK! :)  
**

**Disclaimer- :P**

"Oh," I said shortly, seeing the small group of demons plus one human approaching me. "... that's not good, is it?"

Lee chuckled, his eyes flashing red. I took a hesitant step back. Several things caused me to be fearful: I was outnumbered, they had more powers than I did right now, I was unused to seeing Riku as an old guy, and the last reason was.... was that they had Miuri.

She seemed pale and somewhat weak, but she still flashed a hint of a smile at me. My heart lurched. After all, she was my best friend.

"My, my, Kouin, we're all alone. And why is that?" Lee asked.

And that was the point that it connected. I was supposed to face Lee alone... just for this one battle, just for right now. I needed to see his strength before I could battle him and beat him. I needed to know how much I needed to grow before I could battle the big king of the demons and stuff like that.

I hesitantly took out my pen. I guess that I was supposed to fight. I mean, I really didn't think that I was ready since I had no clue where my powers were and all that lovely crap, but I needed to.

I'm gonna say this a lot, but I really wish that I was an average teenager. Not a freaking god that was supposed to be saving the world from evil and stuff. You guys may think that it'd be fun, but trust me, I'm hungry. I'm really hungry and tired and annoyed and sick of being a god. Darn it!

"You honestly think that you can beat me?" Lee asked, sounding in disbelief. "You're not a god, yet, Jin. You're half-human, half-god. Right now, I have the power of a god. You cannot defeat me, no matter how hard that you try."

"Who says I'm gonna try to beat ya?" I asked, changing the pen into a sword. "I'm just hanging around so I can make sure that Miuri is okay. Otherwise, I'd already be way outta here. I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to demons and their big scary red eyes."

Lee's big scary red eyes flashed. "Was that a taunt?"

"No, no, I just think that you're really a girl in disguise," I answered.

You know what? I think that this was also a good time to figure out how to piss Lee off. And trust me, insults work very well.

Lee took out his own sword, glaring evilly at me. I tried my best to remain a bored appearance, but I wasn't very good at it. This is why I always left the insults, battling, and mean looks to Larka. She was always better at being mean than me.

I felt heart lurch. Was she mad at me for yelling at her, being somewhat under the influence of Amaterasu? She couldn't know that, though. She said... she said that she hated me. At this thought, my throat couldn't help but choke up a little. Dang my inability to be a good mean person... if that makes any sense.

Lee raised an eyebrow at me as I argued with myself in my head. Mental note: do not argue with yourself or think about how you might have pissed Larka off when you are in the face of evility. Or when you are in the face of Lee.

Ha! I'm starting to be mean in my head! One up!

"You have always been an odd person, Jin. Even when you tried your best to be an average human being, you still managed to shine out in your own idiotic way," Lee said, sighing and shaking his head. "Even while we were in school everyone knew your name. I swear..."

I stared at him seriously. "It's because I'm hot, Lee. Learn from my awesomeness."

Lee magically took his sword out, making pretty sparkles fly from his hands. I made a mental note to try to figure out how in the heck he made the pretty sparkles fly.

"Ya know," I began casually, "I was wondering... what exactly are you gonna gain from all this? What is your plan and stuff? Because this is about the point that the big bad guy spills the beans about his big plans and all."

Lee seemed genuinely confused. "You... you don't know? Didn't Larka tell you?"

Again, another secret. Next time I saw her, I would strangle her until she spilled the beans. Or maybe I would get on my knees and beg for her to let me be in the group again, being that it was destiny and all that we were together.

I pouted to myself. I would never understand girls. Especially not Larka or Yuuki.

"Uh, no," I finally answered. "Larka don't tell me nothin'."

Lee raised an eyebrow and brought the sword level to me. He was obviously somewhat confused about me. Then again, everyone gets confused around me. To be honest, I don't blame them.

I really do get off subject, don't I?

Well, I gotta give Lee a hand. He was a fast little bugger. I barely managed to bring my sword up to meet his. He pushed up against me, his eyes flaming.

One part of my mind was screaming, _Oh my freaking heck, I'm gonna get killed by a nerd in glasses with a big sword!_,while the other part of me thought _This isn't my time to be fighting, I'm not ready, and I think I have a bit of a cold. Why are so many bad things happening in my life?!_

You know, as a random thought while I fought, I thought that I needed to set my priorities straight. And I really do need to. Like, Larka needs to be number twenty-eight, not number one.

"You're weak," Lee growled, stepping somewhat away from me. "This is idiocy. I won't fight someone so weak. All talk and nothing behind it."

I brought up my hands, pretending to be offended. "Gosh, and I thought we were friends."

Lee looked away, towards the sea. I could tell he was POed at me for being such a durned biotch. I really, really, really, really, really don't blame him.

"It's not the time, is it?" Lee murmured.

I blinked and lowered my sword. He could feel it, too. The fight didn't really feel real. Our fight felt stupid and pointless.

"It feels like something's supposed to happen, but nobody's supposed to die," I answered. "We're, like, synced or something, man."

Lee glared at me. Mental note: do not call mortal enemy who happens to be a demon "man" or he'll get super mad at ya and want to kill you with his sword all over again. Golly gee, that's a long mental note. Mental note: keep mental notes more brief. Like taht.

"Miuri," he said, blinking. "Miuri."

I titled my head in confusion, raising an eyebrow. What did Miuri have to do with this other than she was right there, watching this idiotic conversation being carried out? Oh. Wait a minute... I still don't get it. I wish I was smart.

"The stakes are higher," he said simply, giving me a wicked smile.

Again, I titled my head in confusion. I gave him a look that said, _You're gonna hafta 'splain that to meh. I'm not dat smart._

Lee rolled his eyes, then continued. "I'm going to keep hurting people you love, so hurry up and get your stupid powers. I'm gettin' pretty sick of waiting for you. Go become the true God of Time already, or I swear that I'll kill Miuri, Ai, and even the Thirteen Brush Gods! Then I'll find your father and kill him!"

Well, that's not a very nice thing to say to someone. So anybody that's reading this, don't say such cruel things to people. It not nice.

"Jerk!" I snapped at him. "Go die in a hole, you freak!"

That's another thing that you shouldn't probably say to people.

"... but who is my dad?" I asked blankly.

Lee raised his eyebrow. "What, did Larka tell you that you were born A-sexually or something? Or do you not even know who your own mother is?"

I shrugged. Larka had told me nada. Was that my fault? No. Why no it wasn't. I'd force it out of her the next time I saw here... or, ya know, beg for forgiveness. Or maybe I could do both at the same time, somehow. I could figure it out.

"Larka has been keeping much from you, Jin," Lee said mysteriously, turning back to the ocean.

Just a few things: firstly, why can't people just tell you stuff in these kinds of situations? Why does everyone have to act like it's some sort of idiotically important sort of secret that you need to know, but not really? I just will never understand why in the crap people do that.

Next, I really wanted to kill Lee just then. His back was turned. He had Miuri. He had Ai. He had hurt tons of other people that I didn't even know. It would be easy to freeze time and stab my sword through him, causing blood to spurt from his body and the sea to turn quite red with the demon's blood. Ah, but then I felt sick just thinking about it.

Oh and Amaterasu said in my mind, _Not now, Jin._

To this, I replied, _Darn._

_

* * *

_Yuuki glared at Larka with her golden eyes flashing. She was not about to loose this stare-off. It was for Jin, and that was what mattered to her.

"We're not going after him," Larka growled. "He can die in a-"

"Hole," Yuuki finished. "But, you know, we kind of need him to save the world. We need to let him know about the prophetic dream I had when I was ten. He obviously doesn't remember it. And I can sense King Lee's presense very close to here. Three hours away at most. We absoluetly _have _to save him!"

"_Couenne_!" Larka cried desperately. "_C'entièrement couenne_!"

Yuuki glanced at Dravis, who had figured out a French a couple of years ago.

"Stupid. That's completely stupid," he translated.

"_Et tellement sommes te_!" Larka continued.

"And so are you," Dravis stated.

Yuuki growled, turning to Larka, "This is no time to be insulting each other, Larka! We have to save Jin! He could die, and it would be all our fault! The world would be completely populated by stinkin' demons! No offense, Dravis."

"Offense taken," he replied. "Go die."

Yuuki rolled her eyes, then pushed her long black hair out of her eyes. "Fine. Okay. Whatever. I'll just tell Jin the prophecy before the time is here."

Most people would have shrugged and said, 'Okay, whatever...', but Larka was different. The prophecy spoke very directly of her, and not in the best of ways. Jin would instantly get overly-protective of her, making her go crazy.

Larka glared and muttered, "That's low..."

Yuuki smirked, folding her arms over her chest. Larka would have to help now.

"I don't get it," Dravis stated.

Larka glanced over her shoulder at him. "You wouldn't."

"So are you helping?" Yuuki asked. "Are we gonna go find Jin and then find my home?"

Larka frowned, then stuck out her hand. Yuuki beamed and took Larka's hand, shaking it. The two girls locked eyes, and, in an instant, knew that they both could never tell Jin the prophecy because they loved him too much.

Dravis, on the other hand, was looking back in forth between them, not getting what just happened.

* * *

The Kitsune put its hand on Hitorigami's shoulder, who stared forward silently. The Kitsune took upon itself the form of an attractive woman, staring down at the god.

"Lee can give you anything you want," the Kitsune murmured, lifting up Hitorigami's chin, who brushed it away.

"Can Lee give me myself?" Hitorigami murmured, looking forward with glazed eyes. "Can Lee make me never alone? I am forever alone."

A deep sense of loneliness awashed over the Kitsune, who did its best to brush it away. Most Hitorigami were born into this world through nothingness and being along, but they were always destined to do great things. This Hitorigami, though, was literally a Hitorigami.

A god of being alone.

"Come on, now," the Kitsune insisted. "There is no point in this. Just come along, now..."

"Begone from me!" Hitorigami finally snapped, its gray eyes wide with fury. The Kitsune seemed surprised and angry, but knew when to quit.

"King Lee will kill you in your sleep, you disgusting god!" the Kitsune growled, its face taking upon that foxy appearance. It eyes glowed red and fangs showed.

The Kitsune slammed the door behind itself and the Hitorigami sighed, glad to finally be alone again. That was what it wanted, after all. It wanted to be alone without that Kitsune... what was its name? Something about tails.

Ninetails. That was it. Ninetails.

Hitorigami sighed just at the thought. The prophecy had mentioned it, but it didn't want to join. It sounded scary.

Hitorigami reviewed what Izanami, the goddess of creation and death, had told it about the prophecy. What it had told it about the God of Time, about the state of the world. It was frightening, and Hitorigami definetly did not want to leave its room now.

_The God of Nothingness shall find the key to death_

_After opening the door_

_The Goddess of Moon will fall through_

_And nothing will be right from there on  
_

Hitorigami shivered. The way it was phrased... what could it mean? No, no, it could only mean one thing.

It would kill the Goddess of the Moon.

**A/N- And that's a wrap! A short chapter, but what the hey. I can't think right now. Slight (ly large) writer's block. *hits head***

**Another thing; I love Hitorigami. You rock! Oh, and please review! Please please pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssseeeeeeeee!  
**


	22. Holy Shiitake Mushrooms

**A/N- Thanks for the reviews, Catorrina and Balverine! :D  
**

**Disclaimer- :P**

I opened my eyes. Dang it. Durn dat Lee.

I rubbed the back of my head, frowning. He had whacked me on the back of the head when I was out in my own little world, thinking about how I should buy a BACK-ON album when I get back home. Then again, what does that have to do with anything?

I sat up, now rubbing my eyes. Now I was tired. Why did the stinkin' beach have to be so bright...

"Well... he didn't kill me... guess that's a plus," I said, staring up at the big blue sky. "But now I have to kill him for even looking at Miuri, gosh dang it. Stupid head."

Miuri was my BFF. Sounds gay? Yeah. But it's true. She was and is my best friend forever. We swore upon the grave of my mother(?) the day that she died. I'm not even kidding you. I'm honestly stuck with Miuri being my BFF for the rest of my life.

Oh, gosh, that's a long time since I'm immortal. I'm not sure how long that is, but it's a flipping long time.

I stood up and brushed the sand off my pants. I glanced at the sun and judged that it was about nine in the morning. Then my powers came up, telling me that it was precisely nine-seventeen. Which is kind of nice to know. I like having a digital watch inside of my brain.

And if that's not a weird sentence, maybe you should reread it.

Anyways, I decided that it was best that I go find Larka. Larka and Dravis might not forgive me, but Yuuki might have a crush on me, so she'd probably forgive me. Gin probably didn't give a crap, and Rosco... well, he's an unpredictable sort, so I'm not exactly sure what he would do.

_Be careful, Kouin. I don't want you getting hurt..._

_Yeah, okay, Amaterasu. I'll be careful._

I don't know about the rest of you who have the sun goddess talking to you in your head, but I was getting kind of bugged by it. I actually did a paper on this in my first year of junior high. Ya know, I hope it doesn't decrease my life by ten-to-twelve years. That's a 'lil bit scary.

_Do not take what I say so lightly, _Amaterasu said sternly, like I was a five-year-old. _Be careful. And go through that bamboo. Yuuki's close to there._

I nodded to her, completely forgetting that there was no way that she could see me. I walked towards the bamboo, anyway.

The bamboo was nice. It was a nice shade of green... and it kept hitting my face... again... and again... and again... and again... and again. You know, I'm wondering now if I did something to offend the God of Bamboo or something since it seems to hate me more than heck.

I got to a clearing and fell over, breathing hard. I seriously needed to work out more. I was completely worn out.

"... in!" I heard.

I sat up and listened. It sounded like... like Yuuki. Shouting my name. That felt kind of nice.

I sat there for a moment, not really comprehending that I should probably call back to her and apologize for what I've done.

_Kouin! _Amaterasu snapped in my brain.

_Gah! Right, right..._

I shouted loudly, "HEY! YUUKI! I'M OVER HERE!!"

"Jin... ?" I heard her shout back.

"NO, IT'S THE CHINESE FOOD DELIVERY GUY! OF COURSE IT'S ME!"

Although I had been considering taking that job before I was taken to the past...

"Keep shouting!" she cried, sounding a bit closer. "I have no clue where you are!"

So, I started shouting about nothing that would particularly interest you. I basically was shouting how I was mad that I was missing new Bleach manga and how I wanted a banana right then and how Japan was awesome and how I had two weird hairs on top of my head, one that was curly and another that stuck straight up...

Well, I said it wouldn't really interest you. Do you believe me now?

After about three minutes of my shouting, Yuuki burst into the clearing. She was breathing hard, just as I had, but the difference was that she didn't fall down. I guess that I should have guessed that even Yuuki was stronger than me.

Yuuki looked up at me and I was struck, once again, at how beautiful of a girl she was. Just a few months into being a fourteen-year-old and she was already gorgeous enough to be the envy of any model in those fashion magazines. And she didn't need make-up to cover anything up. It was natural on her.

I was probably drooling so I blinked and grinned. "Hey."

Yuuki's entire face turned red and she looked into my eyes. She walked up to me and pulled me down by my shirt. One arm sneaked around my neck and she brought her face up to me.

My mind, at the moment was in about a million places at once. Firstly, I was trying to figure out what in the crap she was doing. Secondly, I had noticed that my heart was beating like a bird's. And, lastly, I noticed that she smelled very sweet. Not sure what, exactly, but she smelled... nice...

I felt somewhat dizzy and/or lightheaded.

Of course, not nearly as much as when Yuuki's lips met my own. Then I felt like I was about to die or something along those lines. It felt like... heaven and hell had decided to have a tea party, or something. I really don't know how to describe it.

Warm. Sweet. Honey-flavored. Different. I liked it.

The kiss felt like it lasted about an hour, but I later figured out that it lasted more like thirteen seconds. Either way, I'm pretty sure that it was something that would change my life, even if I didn't know the true reason... at the time.

Yuuki released me, her golden eyes slightly lowered. She pulled her arm to her chest, holding onto her hand with her other. Her face was bright red, and I supposed that mine was probably about the same color as her's.

I hesitantly straightened myself. "W... well... I guess I know whether you like me or... or not, now..."

She looked away, blinking. My heart was still pounding, and I swear that I could hear her's as well. Either that or it was mine echoing.

"Ah-" I began.

Larka, just then, decided to burst in and shout, "A-ha! I found you, you lying piece of crap!"

She looked at me, then at Yuuki, then at me again. It took her all of two seconds to figure out what happened. "Oh. I just ruined your guys' moment. Sorry."

For some odd reason, I was seriously pissed at Larka for doing that. How could she ruin the moment between me and Yuuki? And it being my first (maybe, knowing what I was like in the past...) kiss! At least in this lifetime...

I frowned. Yuuki wanted to add drama to my life, didn't she?

* * *

Kyoufu stared forward, frowning in annoyance. After all, it wasn't like he wanted to go to see where he would be executed. That wasn't actually his idea of fun.

"It'll be okay," one of the demons that was escorting him assured him. "I promise."

Kyoufu stopped, his eyes suddenly glazed over. There it was. The torture system that they used. The bed that he would be chained to soon.

Three days in the Cell of Hell, the place that no human could live through. Then, they used a very slow and awful way of killing you: firstly, they would cut off the tips of your fingers and toes; then they would cut open your stomach and put a slow-killing type of venom inside your intestines; and, finally and lastly, they would force you to drink your own blood.

Kyoufu had seen it happen to his best friend, Kyisuki. Back when the war was just beginning... back when he was still with Lee. The way they did it was the most awful thing he had ever seen. Or done.

"You know how it's done, don't you?" the demon asked. "You've seen it before, right?"

Kyoufu nodded. The demon turned away and spoke quietly with another, the one who would probably be torturing and killing Kyoufu.

"We were just about to take someone out," the second demon said to Kyoufu. "I hope you don't mind waiting and watching for about an hour. We need to allow the Darkness of Yami to reform and such. Do you mind waiting?"

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Kyoufu murmured.

The second demon shook its head, then walked over to the cell doors. It opened them, and a tall, thin imp-like demon fell out, its eyes wide with absolute terror. It was immediately fell into the fetal position, clutching its head tight enough to make blood flow.

Kyoufu slightly tilted his head, a tight and sad frown upon his face. He had seen it so many times, but it had never hurt like it did now. Was this because he was scared now?

The second demon grabbed the prisoner and threw it upon the bed. It then chained the still fear-stricken creature to the bed. The poor beast was still shaking from absolute fear of whatever the Darkness of Yami did to you. Would do to him.

The second demon took from a drawer a large kitchen knife. However, it was obvious that it wouldn't be used for chopping up fish.

"Don't touch me!" The prisoner screamed, its eyes widening even more now. "My name is Semi Higasachi! I am from a rich family! I will have my legions of demons kill you with their frightening powers! You will look at them once and commit suicide for you are so scared of them! You will pay!"

Kyoufu clenched his small fists. "Don't... don't hurt him..."

"No one can help him. He went insane and tried to kill our king," the demon that took Kyoufu in said. "There is nothing we could do to help him. He's just like you in the way that you are destined to die a terrible death. Treason is against the law."

"D-don't touch me, damn it!" Semi screeched. "Don't! No!"

Kyoufu felt tears come to his eyes, much against his will. There was nothing he could do now.

He would die.

* * *

Hitorigami looked down, its eyes somewhat glazed over. The knife was bloody. What should it do? What now?

Ninetails held the bloody stump that had once been where one of its arms been. Its eyes were flashing bright red and blood trickled through its fingers. It panted tiredly, obviously feeling the pain that came from the wound.

"You forced my hand," Hitorigami murmured, holding up the knife in slight wonder. "I told you to leave me alone. No one listens. No one ever listens to me."

"My God will kill you!" Ninetails growled, turning away. "Kill you! The Key to Death is withing your grasp, but you're too scared to admit it. You will die, along with the God of Time! Do you hear me, you damned Hitorigami? You will die!"

Hitorigami lifted its chin, its eyes somewhat angry. "No one will die. I will not fulfill the prophecy. I will not."

Ninetails growled something under its breath that Hitorigami couldn't quite understand, then stalked away. At this, Hitorigami breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally. Alone again.

Hitorigami threw the knife away, dark circles forming under its eyes. Blood spattered the ground as the knife skidded across the ground. Hitorigami then wiped the blood that had gotten all over its left hand onto its shirt. The color was the same, so no difference was truly made.

"Hitori-sama," a soft voice murmured.

Hitorigami turned and saw a woman standing there. Her hair was long and white, slowing fading into black. Markings were all over her body, indicating that she was a god. Her entire coutanance seemed to give off a slight shine. Her eyes showed wisdom much beyond the young adult age that she seemed.

"My name is Amaterasu," she said, her voice just as soft, but demanding attention.

"Goddess of the Sun," Hitorigami answered, pushing a strand of hair back. "Am I right?"

Amaterasu nodded, her eye-lids somewhat lowering. "I am."

Hitorigami looked up in annoyance, turning away. It didn't have time for this. The God of Loneliness and Nothingness should be left alone, shouldn't it? So why was it that Hitorigami was being bothered more and more as the day went on? A mystery to it, that was.

"Perhaps you should be the God of Grumpiness. Or, perhaps, the God of Stuborn-ness," Amaterasu said slyly.

"Leave me be, Amaterasu." Hitorigami felt exhausted.

Amaterasu placed a hand upon the other god's shoulder softly. "I cannot. Kouin is my son. I cannot allow anything to happen to him. And nor can I allow anything to happen to the rest of the world. You must find a way to help him, Hotori-sama."

"And why do I want to?" Hitorigami asked sourly. "It seems like a waste of my life."

Hitorigami brushed Amaterasu's hand off it, and took a few steps forward. It could feel Amaterasu's stare still upon it, but it did not care. There was much that the God had to do.

"I know what you desire," Amaterasu said.

Hitorigami stopped, the echoes of its footsteps still bouncing back at them. Hitorigami stood for a moment, staring forward. It clenched and unclenched its hands, unsure of how to reply. How to say. What to say. What to do. How to react.

"I can give it to you, Hitori-sama. I can give you what you have always craved."

Hitorigami bit its bottom lip and whispered, "And what is it that I want, Amaterasu? What is it?"

Amaterasu leaned in closely, her breath tickling Hitorigami's ear. "You want your own identity. You don't want to be alone."

Hitorigami's eyes widened and it took in a deep and shuddering breath before asking, "How did you know? How could you have found out that the God of Loneliness does not wish to be alone anymore? I have not told anyone... never..."

No. No, it had told one person. One person. But... but... !

"Except my son, isn't that right?" Amaterasu murmured, drawing back. "My son knew."

Hitorigami looked upward, fear. "I'm scared."

"Don't be, Hitori-sama. You are the one that he trusted the key to his temple with. He trusted you with that. As did the Priestess. You must accept that this has happened and now you are in this adventure. You must figure out who you are, Hitori-sama. It's something only you can know."

Hitorigami felt tears of anger fill its eyes. "I... I won't do it! I can't... I can't do it!"

"Kouin trusted you," Amaterasu insisted. "He would not have done so otherwise. You must help. You must save him. He'll die. You have to help someone named Kyoufu. He has the key to the Oracle's heart. He knows it! You must help."

"Kyoufu... is he the Keyholder? He knows all of the keys? He knows how to make it leave me?" Hitorigami asked. "He knows... how to release me?"

"... yes..." Amaterasu murmured. "The Keyholder."

Hitorigami glanced downwards. It was the promise of becoming a true someone that was truely getting to it. It wanted so terribly to become a true God, to be able to see the Celestial Plains. To be able to have a name. Not a title.

To have its own gender, not just to falsely pretend. To fall in love. To become stronger. To be... not alone. To be known. To be kind. To be strong.

Hitorigami closed its eyes. "Where is this Kyoufu?"

* * *

If this place was called the Cell of Hell, then what could the real hell be like? Was it just as bad, or was it much worse? If it was worse, Kyoufu would make sure that he would end up in heaven.

You see, there is no true description of a place like that. One instant, Kyoufu was being pulled in two, the next moment he was being burned in the hottest fire that anywhere had ever seen. And then sometimes it would feel like he was drowning. Others, like he was falling to his death.

Imagine dying a hundred times within a hundred seconds. Each time you die it's painful, its hurting. That might be how you can describe it.

Kyoufu gasped as light filtered into the Cell of Hell. He crawled out on his hands and knees, gasping for air. He was now unable to see due to the fact that he had been in the deep darkness so long that it had seeped into his eyes.

"It's okay," a girl's soft voice murmured. Whoever this girl was, she couldn't have been much more than thirteen.

"Wh-who... wh..." Kyoufu tried to spurt out, but it felt too painful.

"I'm going to save you, Kyoufu," the girl said softly. "My name is Hitorigami, and I am the God of Loneliness and Nothingness."

Kyoufu blinked in confusion. "What... what do you want?"

"To find Kouin's temple and shrine. To find the Oracle. To become a true God. And you're going to help me."

**A/N- :0 Oh. This was a really fun chapter to write. I've been watching enough Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (which is an awesome, but freaky anime) that it's been making me feel bloody. OH WELLS. Read and review, or whatever! Just please don't flame! Tell me how to improve.  
**


	23. Miuri and Kyoufu Stuff

**A/N- Thanks for the reviews, Catorrina and ZAP IS ZAK! I really do appreciate them!! :D  
**

**Disclaimer- :P**

Broken, bloodied, and in pain. That was the way that Miuri was feeling at the current moment. She could feel her own life essence fading, ever so slowly, from her body. Her spirit begged to be freed from her mortal body, to be let loose and safe. Miuri wanted to die more than anything in the whole world.

For three hours straight, they had tortured her, asking her questions. If she didn't answer them (which she couldn't, since she did not know the answers), they would do something awful to her, worse than the last thing but not as bad as the next.

Finally, King Lee came in and told them to stop. He told them there was no point because Miuri would be dead soon from loss of blood. And she obviously didn't know anything, as well.

So, in the end, the fifteen-year-old girl was placed gingerly atop a small futon with white sheets and soft pillows so that she could die peaceably. They even opened the window so that, as she let loose her last and dying breath, she could hear the sweet sound of the ocean. So kind of them.

Miuri was regretting coming to the past. She should have known that she would. Now Jin thought that she was alive, but captive. He would seek to save her. He would get himself killed.

Oh, and there was that little fact that Miuri herself was dying. Five minutes from now, probably, dead.

Ah, such a pity. She didn't get to finish high school. She didn't get to get her driving license. She didn't get to fall in love (Riku SO didn't count). She didn't get to go to America for college, like she had dreamed about for so long. She didn't get to grow old.

At that moment, ruining the melancholy of the moment, Kyoufu and a girl a few years younger than herself jumped in through the window.

"Holy shi-" Kyoufu began, seeing the state Miuri was in. The girl that was with him quickly covered his mouth, bring a finger to her lips, indicating that he should be quiet. Kyoufu nodded.

The girl walked over to Miuri and squatted down beside her. She then began saying in a soft voice, "Hello. My name is Hitorigami."

_Hitorigami?_ Miuri wondered to herself. _Weren't those the gods that came into the world alone? But usually they themselves have names... What's up with that??_

"And I'm warning you right now, this is going to hurt," Hitorigami stated, her fox-like ears flapping slightly. "Mainly because I"m not a Goddess of Healing, but a God of Loneliness. I'm just warning you so you don't swear and shout at me like the thing did."

"Don't call me 'the thing', witch!" Kyoufu growled, louder than he needed to.

"Shut up," Hitorigami growled right back at him, but much softer. She then continued quickly but quietly, "Oh, and just to clear things up really fast, I am not a girl. And I'm not a boy, either. I have no gender, but I like to look pretty. So don't call me a her, not even while you're thinking."

_Well, if that's not weird, I don't know what is._

"Now, be prepared for hurt..." Hitorigami said, tensing up but putting two fingers on both of Miuri's temples.

To say the least, yes, it did hurt. Personally, if actually given a choice afterwords, she would have rather died than go through that pain again. All of Miuri's blood seeped back into her body, all of her wounds closed up, and she was perfectly fine in the end though.

You want me to describe the pain, don't you? Well, I suppose I will...

Getting hit by a truck would feel like a pleasant walk compared to this great pain. Dying about ten times painfully in different ways and then mix all of that pain together and you might have what the pain felt like. However, it really can't be described. Miuri would have preferred to go back to the torture devices and be immortal so she can't die than go through that pain again.

Oh, yes, she screamed. I'm enjoying describing this sort of pain too much, so I'm going to stop now, yes?

"Damn, is that what happened to me?" Kyoufu asked, watching as Miuri slowly and painfully sat up. "Blood went back into my body and crap like that?"

"No," Hitorigami answered, watching Miuri and carefully helping the fallen girl up. "You're pain was more of a mental one than a physical one. You even managed to, somehow, shut off your ability to see in hopes that you wouldn't have to watch the images that you were seeing. The Cell of Hell truly lives up to its name..."

"Cell... of... Hell? Kyoufu..." Miuri said weakly, looking up at him.

For some reason, quite suddenly, she noticed the sudden change that had come about. He was much much taller, even taller than her. And, although his hair was still white, it was no longer in a ponytail and was much shorter. She noticed that his skin was noticeably whiter, almost the same color as his hair. His clothes were still all black, but they kind of looked like a dark priest's instead of a bunch of ripped cloths tied together.

Kyoufu grinned. It was the same smile, even if he was different now. Even if, instead of looking like a little kid, he now looked like he was a hawt eighteen-year-old.

"When Hitori-sama healed me, it completely healed me. It brought me back to my full demon self, no longer just a piece of what I was. Now I'm uber powerful! Bwa ha ha ha ha!" Kyoufu laughed loudly, and Hitorigami smacked him, shutting him up.

"Are you all right?" Hitorigami asked gently.

"We need to... to leave," Miuri managed out.

"Right," Hitorigami said, standing up. "Thing, you must take the Oracle. It is imperative that we get her to Amaterasu's shrine. Pick her up."

"Stupid bitch is ordering me around," Kyoufu muttered, gently scooping up Miuri. "It's okay when you do it, though, because you're all sweet about it and say please and crap like that, but for the Gods' sake, could she or it or whatever be more of a damn bit-"

"Stop... swearing," Miuri mumbled, putting a finger on his lips. Kyoufu's face turned bright red and he looked away, embarrassed.

Miuri felt really warm and safe in Kyoufu's arms... he felt very strong and nice in this form. As Kyoufu and Hitorigami jumped out of the window and onto the roof, Miuri snuggled up close to Kyoufu. She really wanted to go to sleep right now, and he felt nice.

"Someone seems to like being carried in your arms," Hitorigami said, sounding faintly amused.

"Shut up!" was the last thing Miuri heard before she fell asleep.

* * *

Miuri blinked a couple of times, quickly. She was in a small futon, in an almost bare room. The door to her room was open, and it led outside. A sweet but unrecognizable scent reached her nose as a small breeze ruffled her hair. Kyoufu was sitting against the wall, watching her.

"Awake, then?" he asked.

Miuri nodded and sat up, yawning. She was wearing an unfamiliar yukata that had flower designs all over it. The obi belt was high up, higher up than any she had worn before. She could only guess that it slightly forced on her. However, it's not like there was a big difference in size between her chest and her stomach.

Kyoufu scooted over next to her, gently touching her face and whispering just as gently, "Are you okay, Miuri?"

Quite suddenly, Miuri felt dizzy. He was warm, just as he had been before, and he still felt kind of nice. She slightly leaned into his hand, blushing.

"Yeah..." she mumbled, her heart beating quickly. "I... I'm fine."

"You're face is red, though," Kyoufu said, sounding somewhat alarmed. "Do you feel sick?"

"I really am fine," Miuri insisted.

Kyoufu nodded, and stared at her. Miuri couldn't help it; she met his eyes. While you would think that red eyes were scary, his were just... they were just pretty. Dazzling, even. If she would have had a choice, she would have stared into them all day.

Kyoufu slightly tilted his head and asked in a murmured tone, "Do you still like that Riku?"

Miuri blinked and blushed. She had _not _told him about the little crush that she had on Riku. How could he have possibly figured it out?

"Wh-what do you mean?" Miuri asked, turning away from him.

"Do you still like Riku?" he asked, more firmly this time. "Because you kept murmuring his name in your sleep, along with the God of Time's."

Miuri blushed. To be honest, she had been dreaming about what her life was like before Jin became the God of Time. Before Riku became evil. Before she journeyed to the past to find them. Before, even, Jin's mom died. She had been dreaming about their summer vacation.

That summer, they had done it all. The beach, Disneyland Tokyo, an arcade, sports, the pool, the movies and they even attended a party for high school kids only. It was, by far, the best summer that Miuri had ever spent with them. And it was their last.

Miuri sighed and said softly, "No, not really. His betrayal hurt me too much. I don't feel like I can like him any more."

"What about Kouin? How do you feel about him?" Kyoufu asked.

"Why are you so interested in who I like?" Miuri asked, turning back to him.

The instant that she did, Kyoufu put a hand under her chin and pulled her face up close to his. Miuri blushed, feeling his warm breath on her face. What was he doing... ?

"Try to guess why," he breathed, pulling Miuri up even closer to him.

"Ahem," a voice said from the door. There stood Hitorigami, looking faintly amused.

"Damn it," Kyoufu muttered, letting go of Miuri and standing up. "You just had to ruin the frickin' moment, didn't you, Hitorigami? It's only now that I can make a move because I'm in my full demon form! Before I was a little... welp, or whatever."

"I still believe you are a welp, Thing," Hitorigami stated, walking over to Miuri. "I would like to know how you are feeling, though. Are you all right, Oracle?"

"Oracle?" Miuri asked in confusion, trying to erase her deep blush at both the boldness of Kyoufu and the feeling of being caught doing something she shouldn't be doing.

"It is what you are, aren't you?" Hitorigami asked. "An Oracle?"

"I have no idea," Miuri answered honestly. "I just thought that I was a girl who was good at kicking."

"Hardly," Hitorigami snorted. "But I won't let you know all of the details yet. For now, we should just enjoy this nice day... and each other's company."

"I'll enjoy Miuri's company, but sure as hell not your's," Kyoufu muttered.

Miuri blushed again as Kyoufu took her hand. Why was, all of the sudden, he making a whole bunch of moves on her? He had told her to guess why... could it be that... that he liked her? That he liked her more than a friend? That he liked her like she had liked Riku?

Then again... she was feeling exceptionally happy with him close. And when he was gone, all Miuri could think about was him. She had begged to the Gods for him to be safe. Could it be that she felt the same about him? She did keep blushing around him and noticing how cool-looking he was and how sweet he was and...

Miuri felt her face turning an even deeper shade of red. What was wrong with her? She couldn't be thinking of how great he was when Jin might be in danger. When they were in the middle of a war, she was thinking about how cute he was! She couldn't do that...

"Miuri, do you know where we are?" Hitorigami asked, its large gray eyes soft.

Miuri shook her head. It hadn't really crossed her mind to ask.

"This is the Shrine of Amaterasu. It's a holy place in a small village called Kamiki Village. We are staying here so that we may be close to the dojo, and also be protected by Amaterasu. We must train and become stronger. Then... then we will search for the Key to Death." Hitorigami's voice shook slightly at the end.

"What's the Key to Death?" Miuri asked, feeling somewhat confused.

"I will explain everything later, at supper," Hitorigami said, standing up. "For now, though, I have some business to settle with a certain elder of this town."

Miuri nodded, but still felt confused. After all, she didn't know Hitorigami that well and she--it, was acting rather strange. Then again, her whole life was strange these days. And Hitorigami said that it would explain everything later. When that happened, Miuri would know.

"I suppose I ought to leave as well. Amaterasu doesn't like demons in her shrine for more than about two hours at a time before she needs some cool-off time. She's kind of a cranky little girl," Kyoufu said, standing up.

Miuri pouted slightly and said, "Fine. Leave me alone. See if I care."

"If I stay in here," he said very seriously, "I'll make love with you. I need to get out of here."

Miuri's face probably felt like it couldn't get any redder today, so she just shouted, "You're right! Get outta my room, pervert!"

Kyoufu laughed at this. "Aw, you're no fun, Miuri! Here I was thinking you might enjoy-"

"OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT!!" Miuri yelled, pushing the older boy out of her room and slamming the screen door behind him.

Miuri sat down slowly, leaning against the door as she slid downwards. She could not believe how bold Kyoufu was being. She had thought that all this time that they would remain being friends, nothing more, and that she would get back to being with Riku in the end. Quite obviously, that wasn't to be so.

* * *

Kyoufu rounded the corner that led off the shrine, a smirk on his face. It was so much fun to be able to mess with Miuri, now that he was able to.

To be truthful, he had thought that she was the most beautiful human that he had ever seen when he was told to go and bring her to join the D. A. K. L. S. As he got to know her, he found that he liked her more and more. By now, he was probably at that point that it was more than just like-like, but less than love, if that made any sense.

Her embarrassed face flashed in his mind, and he chuckled softly. Damn it, she was taking control of his head. Why did she have to be so amazing?

"Hey, excuse me!" someone shouted from behind. Kyoufu turned, a slight frown on his face.

There were two humans, one was a teenager, while the other was at that stage between teenager and a child. The teenager, who was a boy, was wearing a t-shirt and slightly ripped-up jeans. He was the one that had called out to Kyoufu.

"What?" Kyoufu asked bluntly.

"We were wondering where we were," the younger one, who was a girl, said. "Do you know?"

"Welcome, welcome to hell's abyss," Kyoufu said dryly. "A happy little village of annoying proporotions called Kamiki Village. The name's Kyoufu. And you?"

"My name's Ai," the little girl said. "And this is Ethan."

"Listen, I'm not tour guide," Kyoufu stated. "If you need some help, I'd go to the village elder-guy. His name's Mr. Apple. I can take you to him, if you'd like, but there's not much more that I can do for you right now, okay? Sorry."

"It's no problem," Ethan said.

As Kyoufu took them, somewhat grumpily, to the village elder, he thought that... well... the two of them, they were both wearing odd clothes, like Miuri did. It was possible that they were from the future, but... the likeliness was very low.

"You guys from the future?" Kyoufu asked, trying to sound casual.

Ai and Ethan glanced at each other, and Kyoufu could tell that they were unsure if they should answer a question like that to him. After all, Kyoufu didn't even look remotely human. Well, maybe slightly, but not very much.

"Why?" Ethan asked cooly.

"I have a friend from the future," Kyoufu answered, just as cooly. "So I was just wondering."

"Really? What's your friend's name?" the girl, Ai, asked curiously.

"Uh, Miuri," Kyoufu answered, a little put-off by the cuteness of the girl.

"Miuri?" Ai asked, stopping. "As in, Miuri Kimura? Reddish-brown hair and really really really sweet?"

"Her hair's starting to turn black, but yeah, that sounds like her," Kyoufu answered.

"Yyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!!" Ai squealed, punching the air. "Miuri's here! Miuri's here! Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri Miuri!!"

This was just a guess, but Kyoufu thought that Ai might know Miuri.

**A/N- Snarflob! DOkanandkylan!~desu! Okay, so this was an important relationship building type chapter. I was actually planning on showing the torture scene for Miuri, but then I thought, "Naaahhh... that'd be mean." Soooo... yeah.**

**More romance. There won't be as much in the next Jin chapters. I mean, there will be confusion and embarrassment and drama, but not too much romance. lolz I ish ebil. SO, ANYWAYS, PLEASE REVIEW!! I LOVE IT WHEN YOU DO!!  
**


	24. Explanations I Don't Wanna Hear

**A/N- COULD IT BE?! I'M BACK! Finally, I installed OpenOffice into my new computer and found inspiration! Obsession took over and I had to write! ...also, thanks everything! :)**

**Disclaimer- Not miiinnne!  
**

"Wake up, you lazy butt!" Larka shouted, hitting me with a pillow. I groggily sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"Wha?" I mumbled, glancing at her.

"Today's the day that we prepare for tomorrow which is the day which we leave in which today is the day that I explain why we must leave for this particular moment!" Larka stated, grinning and putting her hands on her waist. "Did you get any of that, ya dork?!"

I just stared at her. "Shut up and let me go back to sleep."

Larka huffed at me. "I didn't have to forgive you. I didn't have to decide to let you in on a whole bunch of stuff I wasn't planning on letting you know. I didn't have to keep your lovey-dovey kiss with Yuuki stay a secret. I didn't have to force Dravis to forgive you. I didn't have to-"

"I get the point, sorry, sorry!" I moaned. "I'll get up and help, okay?"

Larka gave me a smirk. "You get to carry the heavy stuff, Mr. Macho."

"Get out, I'm getting changed," I stated, pushing her out of my, er, one of Gin's rooms.

Larka stuck her tongue out at me. It kind of made me smile, though. Somehow, and I really wasn't how, we somehow were friends again. It was like she had completely forgotten about our fight. Dravis, of course, hadn't, but at least Larka had. And, even better, she had agreed to let me know a whole bunch of stuff today. I would finally know what was going on! Yayyyy!

Once again, I pushed my too-long hair back. Annoying. I'd get a knife and cut it later.

The instant I walked out of "my" room, being done with getting changed and all, I bumped into Yuuki. Her golden eyes widened as she saw me and her face turned bright red. She, without a word, walked past me, hurrying down the hallway. It had been like that since... since... the kiss...

My face felt redder at just the thought. Yuuki. She kissed me. And I liked it. Very much. And now I was starting to get funny feelings around her. What was wrong with me?!

"You're in looovvve," I heard Larka's teasing voice say from behind, making my face flame up.

"As if!" I snapped. "Yuuki just... she made me confused, is all!"

I stomped off, the big frown still on my face as I walked down the hall. There was no way I could like Yuuki. See, liking Larka and liking Yuuki were different things. I was a freak about Yuuki in the past. It was wrong on so many levels that I can't even think about liking her now. And Larka... well, she said I would find out later today why I couldn't like her, which made me a little bit worried. It couldn't be too bad, could it?

At that point, I tripped (but did not fall) over a golden brick, causing me to bump into someone. I was feeling clumsy today, wasn't I?

"What the hell was that?" Dravis snapped, flipping me off automatically.

"I'm a klutz today!" I complained. "Sorry!"

"Go to hell," was his answer. At that point, I noticed that he was tearing a pink bow out of his hair, which made me wonder if I should go into the room.

I stepped in and saw that Gin was holding up the tattered remains of a once-frilly dress and bawling to Rosco. My only guess was that she had tried to force Dravis into the dress and he fought back, eventually destroying the dress. However, the dress seemed pretty modern, so I couldn't help but wonder where she had gotten it. Me, probably...

"Kouiiiinnnn!" Gin whined. "Dravy-poo is being meannnnnn! So meannn!"

"He's a mean person," I answered honestly.

"I need hot anime guyyysss!" Gin continued whining.

"Me tooooo!" Rosco started whining.

"Uuuhhhhhhhhnnnnn!" they both whined at the same time, forcing me to cover my ears from the terrible noise they were omitting.

"SHUT UP!" Larka shouted, making them both stop whining and start whimpering. "Jin, we're going shopping for supplies, then we'll talk, okay? Come on," she said, grabbing my arm.

I allowed myself to be dragged along, watching as Larka grabbed two or three gold coins from the ground so that we would have money. After all, tomorrow we were going to start walking again. Instead of going to look for my temple (which would have been nice for me), we, the entire group besides me, that is, decided to go get the support of the princess of Nippon (No queen or king because they died, I guess) and the prince of the moon. I don't know how we're getting to the moon, but it sounds like a heck of a lotta fun to me, so I'm game!

Yeah, so, I guess, basically, we're going to buy supplied, get my clothes mended since I refuse to wear traditional Japanese clothes and fight, buy Yuuki a hakama, even if those are for boys during this time period, and get lots of food. I'm in charge of carrying everything. Lucky me.

I also had the joy of hanging out with Yuuki all day. Any other day of the week, I'd be totally cool with it. But yesterday, she grabbed me by the shirt and kissed me. That kinda freaked me out. It still freaks me out. I mean, that was my sort-of first kiss! And Yuuki took in like it was nothing! It was terrible.

Both Yuuki and Dravis were right outside the palac- I mean, house, waiting for us. Once again, the auto-flip off came on for Dravis, and the auto-red face came on for Yuuki. My face reddened, too. Why in the world did she have to kiss me? My life would be so much easier if she hadn't...

"Let's get going, ya dorks minus Dravis who needs to put down his middle finger!" Larka shouted, striding on ahead of us.

At least Larka could act normal. Or, that is, as normal as Larka got.

I followed them, trying my best just not to think. Why? Because thinking got me in trouble. A lot. And, also, if I thought, I would think of the strange position that I was in. You know, being sucked into the past, idiotic romances that just shouldn't exist, enemies that I've got to fight for no reason, stuff like that.

Crap. I was thinking about it.

I rubbed my temples and sighed. Apparently, after today, I would be even more stressed out, too, because I would know more about myself and about what I was supposed to be doing. I would probably have a heart-attack or something from all of this stress and depression and anxiety that I had been feeling lately. I hoped I wouldn't die.

"Hey, Jin, take this," Larka said, throwing something at me. I caught it and blinked. A cloak, long and black with a hood.

"Did they have these in medieval Japan?" I asked.

"Apparently since we can find them at a Japanese market. We can also find red snapper and eel! Yum yum!" Larka said in an overly bright tone before suddenly darkening. "I miss French food. And hamburgers." She sighed and turned to Yuuki, muttering something to the other girl.

"What do you suppose they're talking about?" I asked Dravis, who ignored me.

I sighed. Although it'd be kind of weird to wear a long and dark cloak, it would help keep me warm and help me to blend in better during the night. All the while though, I'm sure that I'd feel like a cos-player, one of those people who dress up as their favorites characters from shows or books or manga or whatever.

"Another thing for you," Larka stated, giving me a small knife.

"Great. What is this for?" I asked. "I have pen-sword-thing."

She flicked my hair off my shoulders before saying sarcastically, "Your eyebrows, Jin. Jeez, idiot."

"That's Yuuki's word. Yours is dork," I stated.

Larka stared at me for a minute. "What?"

"Everyone in this team, besides me, has a catchphrase. Like, Dravis's is any swear word that you can think of, yours is dork, and Yuuki's is idiot. Didn't you notice?" I asked.

Larka rolled her eyes before saying, "You come up with the strangest things, dork number one."

I shook my hair out of my face before sighing and following them to another store after buying the cloak and the knife. This time, I ended up carrying a whole bunch of carefully bought food. Yuuki, although she was the one deciding what to buy since she was good at that kind of stuff, didn't come within a one-meter-radius of me.

Nextly, Larka pulled all of us into a small shop where lots of pretty pretty women were weaving and such. Larka hit me on the back of the head.

"This is where we're gonna get our clothes fixed. There's a witch of sorts who can help us out. She's also an able fortune-teller and highly worships a certain Kouin, which I'll never understand," Larka stated, holding her forefinger up as she spoke. "She can make our clothes not only better in the way of no rips, but she can also add magical charms and such to them to make them stronger and stuff."

"Uh huh," I answered, eying a particularly pretty girl who sewing up a kimono. Larka hit me on the back of the head again.

"I'll go first, you try to not rape anyone," Larka stated, opening a door and walking through it. Leaving me alone with Yuuki and Dravis. Oh joy.

As though sensing the air had suddenly gotten much thicker without Larka around, Dravis stated that he was going to step out for a second, then flipped me off again. Leaving me alone with Yuuki. Who had recently kissed me. Leaving me very confused. And making things awkward.

Yuuki was looking down at the ground, her thick eyelashes almost covering her golden eyes. I automatically bit my bottom lip, hoping that this depressing silence would be able to go away soon and she could get back to insulting me and being all mean to me and calling me an idiot and blushing around me and having me not get it and feeling my own face heat up because she was seriously pretty, way prettier than any of the other women in here...

I shook my head in confusion. What was I thinking? Sure, Yuuki was pretty, but I shouldn't be blushing around her like this. She was Yuuki, after all, the girl who baffled me to no end and always made me feel depressed about myself. Not the girl who made me blush and giggle and crap like that.

I glanced over to her and managed out in a mumble, "H- hey, Yuuki... about yesterday..."

She, at that point, turned to me and bowed deeply, saying, "I'm very sorry! Jin, I should not have kissed you so suddenly as that. I understand if you feel angry with me, and I will understand if you wish to discontinue our friendship and merely remain together as allies!"

Like an automatic reflex, my hand went on top of her head, gently ruffling her hair. She straightened up, her face flushed. "J- Jin..."

"I don't think I want that," I said, my voice very soft and my face somewhat red.

Our eyes met and my heart started beating way faster. My hand went from the top of her head, slowly sliding down to her cheek. She slightly leaned into it, her smaller hand holding onto it. For a moment longer, we held the gaze, staring into the other person's eyes, trying to figure out what was there.

Quite suddenly, I realized what I was doing and my face heated up even more. I let go and turned away, and mumbled, "S- sorry! I dunno what came over me... let's just... be friends... okay?"

"Oh," she said softly, sounding somewhat hurt. "I- I understand. Okay."

That made me feel guilty. Here I was, the great Jin Sakurada, playing with her heart a little bit then throwing it away like I didn't care. Yuuki liked me. And I was being pretty darn heartless to her. I had never thought the day would come when I would mess with a girl like this.

Much to my happiness, Larka came out. Nothing much seemed different about her since she hadn't gotten her clothes ripped up much, but her smile was... more confident, maybe? Or maybe it was just the fact that she was excited to make fun of me, once again.

"Your turn, Jin," Larka said, patting my should as she walked past to Yuuki. "Go. Now."

I did so, sighing slightly. I had no idea who this woman was, what she was like, but... I would have to deal with it... whatever.

I stepped in, and found it extremely dark. There were three candles lit in the room, one being small, the next being medium-sized, and the last being tall. Other than that, the room was dark with only one piece of furniture that I could see; a small stool in the middle of the room where the woman sat.

I'm not going to say she was old. Nor will I say that she was young. She was old enough to be my mother, but not too much older than that. Her dark hair was cropped to her chin and occasional wrinkles lined her face, indicating the had felt a long and tiring life.

"Kouin," she murmured, her voice soft. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Sorry," I said apologetically. "I don't remember you."

She stood up and, while guiding me to the stool, said, "That's fine. I wouldn't expect you to remember me after what happened."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I sat down onto the stool. "And, also, what's your name?"

"Ayashii is my name," she answered. "And I mean when you, along with several other Gods, forced you to forget your entire past, entrusting both your powers and your temple into the hands of friends who you believed to be trustworthy. Including that raven-haired girl who sits outside."

"Yuuki knows where my powers are?" I asked, eyes widening.

"I said your temple as well," she said simply, pulling a needle and thread out of one of her pockets on yukata. "If you chose to listen, of course."

My face heated up somewhat. She was indicating I was a bad listener. Which was probably true. I zoned out too much. Just like I was right now. Dang it.

As she began sewing up one of the rips that was on my sleeve of my shirt, I asked, "How do we know each other?"

"I was one of your devoted followers. Your few. Many people did not respect you because of the many foolish choices you made in life. However, I could see to your core. I could see that, in reality, you were a wise and gentle god who constantly yearned for some way to keep people loving you. You used women for this purpose," she said, breaking the string and tying it.

My ears reddened. Being a perverted god, apparently, was something that I was known for.

"At least I didn't use men," I mumbled.

"True," she answered. "You didn't, which was rather relieving. About eight years ago, though, you suddenly lost interest in all women. It seemed that you were infatuated with a child who you were waiting for to grow up. Love seemed to have finally struck you."

I sighed. "Yuuki. Why her? What's so special about her?"

Ayashii shrugged. "How should I know? You're the one who fell in love with her. Figure it out yourself."

"Helpful," I said, sighing once again.

"But... I sense that girl will become important to you once again. She will become very important, indeed," the older woman murmured, finishing up the last rip on my shirt. "And that other girl who came in before, Larka, will become more important to you as well, but in a much different way. The boy will be the same in importance."

"That's great," I answered. "I don't get it."

"You always did need things to be blunt," she said, sighing. "You'll love the girls more, but the boy will remain the same feelings-wise."

"Oh," I said stupidly. "Am I done? All the rips are taken care of, so-"

"I'm not finished," she answered, going over to the corner and coming back with a paintbrush. "I never was amazing at caligraphy but, luckily, that doesn't matter as much if you're a witch."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"This is a stolen celestial paintbrush. When I write a spell on your shirt, the spell will happen. Protection, strength, charisma... it can all be yours with some quick writing. Of course, you don't know how to be a witch so none of these spells will work if you try them," she stated, writing something on my shirt that faded as soon as the brush left the place.

"Uh, yeah, sure," I said, not really understanding.

Ayashii sighed, rolling her eyes before continuing. I would never be able to really understand the past, I don't think.

* * *

"Sooo... how did things go with it being just you and Jin?" Larka asked, giving a quick grin to Yuuki.

Yuuki's face heated up and she looked away. "I guess we're friends again."

"That's stupid!" Larka complained. "I mean, I don't wanna be related to you, but can you two just get together already?! Dork number one needs to get over me, already..."

Yuuki nodded stupidly, deciding to just go with it. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Larka's antics. What she really wanted was for Jin to remember how much he had loved her in the past. Now they were close in age, and Yuuki was a semi-adult. She wanted Kouin to come back and love her.

Yuuki sighed and shook her head. "It's all useless, I guess. Until Jin's memory returns, he won't admit that he likes me to himself or anyone else. He did that before, too."

Larka shrugged, leaning against the wall. "He's a denial type of guy. Just like you're a denial type of girl."

"I am not!" Yuuki exclaimed.

"Thank you for proving my point. By the way, I'll need you to help me talk to Jin today. I'll probably try to get out of it since I don't want Jin to know that he's my half-brother and all, so I need you there to drag me back by my tail," Larka said.

"Gin seems to be good at that, so why don't you ask her?" Yuuki asked.

"Because she's Gin," Larka said, shuddering slightly. "You understand."

Yuuki sighed, flipping her hair out of her eyes. "I guess. But if I start mumbling and blushing part-way through, I may try to leave, too."

Dravis entered at that point, at which both girls turned to him with thumbs up, saying at the same time, "We're counting on you, Dravis, to help us with the dork/idiot!"

Dravis stared for a minute before shaking his head, rolling his eyes, and slumping next to the wall beside Larka. "I'm hungry."

Jin came out at that point, silencing all conversation. Ah, nothing like drama, no?

* * *

I dropped the bags on the floor next to my shoes, shouting, "We're home, Gin!"

"Yayyyyy!" Gin shouted. "That makes me happy! What would make me even happier is if Dravy-poo would play dress up with me and Rosco!"

"F*** that!" Dravis shouted, holding up both middle fingers in the direction of Gin, at which point Larka smacked him upside the head, growling something to him about watching his language. He replied that he would be better about it if she made out with him more, to which Larka hit him again.

"Not to be rude," I interrupted, "But Larka promised an explanation, did she not? I would like it now."

Larka faced paled a shade and she said, "R- right, I did promise that, huh... so... so I guess we'll go to Yuuki's room since it's the cleanest since she's a neat-freak..."

"Everything should have its place!" Yuuki complained, following the other girl to her room.

When we walked in, I noticed that, yes, Yuuki's was the cleanest. She had piled all the money into the corner, dusted everything off, actually made her bed... I wondered if I could get her to do this to my room. Then again, we would be leaving tomorrow, so it didn't matter that much, did it?

Larka slumped down onto the bed while Yuuki leaned against the wall and Dravis plopped down on the floor. "Where to start, where to start... I guess just before your birth is a good place."

"Which was when, exactly?" I asked, sitting next to her.

"You were given form about a hundred or so years ago, but your spirit has been around for much, much longer, Jin," she stated. "You see, just like me, you were an accident that wasn't supposed to happen. Before my mom went off to the Celestial Plains, she met this other guy, whose name was Oki. You remember him, right?"

I nodded. "The guy who was taller than me."

"Yes," she answered. "Well, Mom liked him and spent the night with him. She, though, got a little surprise as she became pregnant. Hiding from Waka, I bet, was no fun."

It took my a second to realize, as she paused, that she was talking about me. As in, we shared the same mother and Oki was my father. And that, since we shared the same mother, we were related. And since we were related, I suddenly understood her distress about my feelings for her.

"I AM GROSSSS!" I shouted, hitting my head with my hand. "ABSOLUTELY SICK!"

"Haven't I been telling you that from the beginning?" Dravis asked mildly.

"Yes!" I shouted again.

"Jin, I'm sorry I kept that from you, but it kinda freaked me out when I found at that you were my brother, and I really didn't know how to react," Larka said, gently putting a hand on my shoulder. "And, also, there is more, so you need to calm down a bit."

"Okay, is there anyone else in this room that I'm related to, first?" I asked.

"No, it's just me," Larka stated.

I sighed, trying to take this in. The reason why Amaterasu had cared about me was because I was her son? And Oki was my real father, and he didn't know that I was his son. Larka was my half-sister, her father being Waka. The only thing I could feel happy about was the fact that I wasn't related to Yuuki or Dravis. Both would have been bad.

I blinked as I realized something. "Wait, Dravis, you knew?!"

Dravis nodded, looking bored. "Yeah, Larka told me. Then I told Yuuki."

I turned to Yuuki, a slight frown on my face. Yuuki looked down her face reddening as she mumbled, "I- I didn't mean to keep anything from you, but Larka asked me to because she wasn't sure if she wanted you to know that you guys were siblings..."

I blinked, then sighed and shook my head. "Just... just keep going..."

"Well, after that..." Larka began hesitantly. "I was born. Mom couldn't take care of either of us, and Oki didn't know that you existed, so she put you in the hands of a woman named Princess Fuse, while she let my dad take care of me. Princess Fuse raised you and taught you to be the person that you became."

"A perv?" Dravis asked, still sounding mild.

"No, he figured that out later. Apparently, when you were about thirteen, you wanted to find your mom. Along the way, you found out about pretty girls, and, apparently, they found about you. Eventually, you managed to get to Kamiki, where we met for the first time. I was also meeting my mom for the first time, but you... the instant you came along she forgot all about me," Larka said, her voice getting small at the end.

I felt guilt grab me. Larka probably often got ignored because of me. I was her older brother, and I often stole her mom. Our mom. I probably barely had even known or cared about it, too.

"Afterwords, you became a more independent and care-free god, choosing to do what you want and not caring about the consequences... At the time, I didn't even know that you were my half-brother because Mom chose not to tell me anything at that point. I just thought that you were a stupid god who spent way too much time with girls. I, personally, was more interested in trying to be the coolest god ever and being super-helpful and great crap like that," Larka stated. "But that's just me."

I rolled my eyes. "Then what happened?"

"Then Lee came to power. And, quite simply, a god of fortune told a great prophecy about him and you on his deathbed. You freaked out about it, and ran away, staying at your shrine, hiding. You let two people know where you were, one being Susano, the other being someone we don't know about quite yet," Larka said. "While there, you and Susano got into a big fight over a certain black-haired girl..."

Yuuki looked down, her face reddening again. She mumbled something, twirling her fingers. For some reason, my face also heated up, although I didn't really understand why. Dang it, and there was my heart beating tons and tons faster again... what was wrong with me?!

"Finally, after a giant massacre a few years after you hid at the shrine, you decided that you needed to fulfill the first part of the prophecy, which was to go to the future and leave your powers behind. Doing this, and I'm not sure how, would shatter Lee's powers as well. And it did. But he started getting them back, so I had to go pick you up."

"What about the rest of the prophecy?" I asked in confusion. "Is that it?"

"It foretold about Kouin, aka you, getting the support of many humans and demons through politics and such, and about stuff like that, and about how you would kill Lee," Larka said, sounding slightly like she was avoiding something.

"What are you hiding?" I asked, trying to sound calm.

"Nothing you need to know about," she said quickly.

"You are hiding something, and I wanna know what it is, Larka," I stated. "Tell me."

Larka stood up quite suddenly, pulled Dravis up, opened the door and shouted, "Heyyyy! Gin! Dravis wants to play dress-up!"

Which further annoyed me. What was she hiding from me now?

**A/N- HA HA HAHHHH! I did iittttt! I finished! Next time, we get going to find the princess of Nippon and the prince of the moon, who I personally don't like very much! By the way... this chapter was the longest one yet! Hoorayyyyy!**


	25. We're On Our Way To Who Knows Where!

**A/N- Thanks, Kay (your name keeps getting shorter... XD), Catorrina and ZAP IS ZAK!  
**

**Disclaimer- Nope. Still not mine.**

"Good luck! Try not to die! Jin, you look stupid in that cloak!" Gin called to us, waving. Rosco was shouting something else, but it's probably not proper for a rated T fanfiction. Just like Dravis's language.

Larka, grinning, turned to us. "Now we can get back on the road, make fun of Jin, destroy demons, and make fun of Jin some more! It sounds like a good plan to me!" Larka was practically skipping. I knew the true reason for her joy: being away from Gin and Rosco was a lovely gift that all of us were glad to receive.

Yuuki had managed to start talking to me without looking like her head would explode from the intense amounts of blood that were rushing into her face, which was kind of nice. Now that I knew how she felt about me, though, she acted quite a bit gentler around me, and often stayed a safe distance from me. It was to be expected, I suppose, that things would be a little bit different, so I was all right with it for now.

Dravis, meanwhile, still couldn't get over the wound I had given him. I saw the scar tissue that had formed (he can heal himself super-fast or something along those lines, otherwise we'd be waiting for him to heal up back at Gin's house) and couldn't help but wince. Kind of harsh. And gross.

I had said sorry a couple hundred times, but he still didn't forgive me. He, apparently, didn't know how to forgive me since he and I were destined to be enemies or something along those lines. But, I think that is, he was also in a good mood today. After all, we were leaving some crazy people behind and there was no way I was ever going to flirt with his girlfriend ever again.

Larka. I was confused about her. She had told me she didn't want to know, but now... now she seemed way more than excited that I knew. She even referred to me as "big brother" once. In a kinda weirdly cute way. I was so confused on so many levels. Was she happy that I was her brother? Was she mad?

I shook my head and sighed. I was starting to get a headache. I felt a gentle hand touch my arm and I glanced over to see large golden eyes meet my own. My heart, almost immediately, started racing and my face heated up.

"Are you okay?" Yuuki asked, sounding concerned.

I nodded, opening my mouth and closing it again. Another thing to be confused about: my feelings for Yuuki. I had loved her in the past, and now I might have a crush on her. Ever since that kiss a couple of days ago, I kept getting flustered and stupidly happy around her.

"Your face is pretty red. Do you have fever?" Yuuki asked. "Do you feel sick or something?"

"Ah, no, that's-" I began.

Larka, unfortunately, chose to interject at that point, saying, "He is very sick, Doctor Yuuki! He's got love-sickness! Totally in love with a golden-eyed girl who can't see it!"

Yuuki's face burned, but not nearly as much as mine. In love?! Okay, I might be willing to accept have a crush on her, but in love?! Really?! There was no way that I could have those feelings for her... I hadn't even been crushing on her for three days and now Larka was saying I was in love with her?! No way!

"I'm gonna start calling you 'imotou-tan' if you don't shut up now!" I snapped. "How would you like to be referred in such a cutesy way, hm?!" **(Imotou-tan being a cutesy way of saying "little sister"...)**

"I am your little sister, so it wouldn't be too bad, but if you start saying that in front of other people..." Larka said in annoyance, pulling up a fist. "I'm the only one who gets to tease."

I rolled my eyes. How was there any possible way that we were related? She was rude and sarcastic and always spoke her mind and... well, maybe there are some similarities. But I do my best not to be rude, unlike her. I am somewhat sarcastic, though. I guess.

I glanced over to Dravis, wondering how he was acting to all of this. His eyes were facing forward and he had a bored look on his face. He was also eating an apple as we walked. He was the only one of us who didn't carry any stuff. I guess he didn't need any of it. Or maybe he just didn't have anything.

I pushed my hair, for the billionth time that day, out of my eyes. Tonight I would cut it down. It had been a good three or four months since I had cut it now. True, I had only been here for two or three months, but I hadn't gotten my hair cut for a while in the future, too. Or whatever. Jeez, time travel confused the crap out of me.

"So... so, you were blushing?" Yuuki asked in a tiny voice as we walked.

My face decided to burn even more at that point. "W- well, y- y- ya know, I ju- just happened..."

"It's a yes or no question," she said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Yes," I answered before speed-walking to catch up to Larka. I grabbed Larka's arm and muttered in her wolfy ear, "Okay, so, like, this is going to be a terribly awkward trip because Yuuki happened to kiss me that one time. I need you to help me out a bit, please."

"Since you said, please," Larka said, sighing. I smiled weakly and was about to reply when she continued, "However, you have to start getting serious about training. There's no way you'll be able to beat Lee the way you are now, so you need training. That is the trade-off, take it or leave it."

"Fine..." I sighed out.

Larka grinned at me before saying, "You know, this'll be pretty much hell, right?"

"I know..." I sighed out again.

"Glad you know. Now shut up because we're on our way to go save the world. I guess."

Our little group... Jin, the guy who had been a perverted god in the past and was currently a stupid hormonal teenager trying to figure out how many family members he had and who he was in love with; Larka, the goddess of the moon reborn or something along those lines who was the half-sister of Jin and was also extremely violent and stuff like that; Yuuki, the large-chested more mom-ish type who easily got upset if things didn't go her way and happened to be in love with the Jin of the past, Kouin; Dravis, the grumpy emo boy who seemed to be obsessed with food and that Jin was an idiot that had spawned from hell or something along those lines.

Either way, I was pretty sure that this wouldn't turn out very well. In such a group, who knew what kind of stuff we could get ourselves into?

* * *

Miuri was fairly certain that she couldn't breath. Ai seemed to be extremely happy to see her and was saying things so fast that Miuri couldn't understand a word of it. She was also fairly certain that the younger girl was crying with joy because Miuri was a girl and she hadn't seen a girl since she had come to the past more than a week ago.

Which, to be honest, worried Miuri. She would ask Ai about it later.

"Yeah, lucky I found them I guess..." Kyoufu said, scratching behind his ear with a bored look on his hot face.

Not hot. Just face.

"Y- yeah," Miuri managed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm cutting off the air that needs to go to your lungs!" Ai cried, letting go.

"Yes... yes you were..." Miuri gasped out upon being released. "Thank you for allowing me to breathe."

"Yeah, Ai mentioned you when she was talking about what things had been like before she came to the past," Ethan said. "She always said that you were super-cool and strong and stuff like that... I guess. She said she wanted to look for you, too, so this is nice. I guess."

Miuri decided that Ethan said 'I guess' too much at that point. Unlike Kyoufu. Not that she was thinking about him again or anything.

"I'm glad that you found them, Thing," Hitorigami said, smiling lightly. "This is a good thing."

"Stop calling me Thing!" Kyoufu snapped. "Or I'll kick your as-"

"Shut up!" Miuri snapped warningly.

Kyoufu took on a pouty face, glaring at Miuri in an immature way. Still, it was absolutely adorable. And by adorable, Miuri meant not adorable. Of course she meant that. What else could she mean? Sexy? No. She so wasn't thinking about that either. No way.

"Your face turned really red," Ai said, sounding a little worried. "Are you sick? Do you have a fever? Or are you just blushing because that demon-guy is kinda hot?"

"Sh- shut up also!" Miuri managed out. "He's not sexy!"

"She didn't say sexy," Hitorigami observed calmly. "She said hot."

"All of you shut up!" Miuri shouted. She then turned to Kyoufu, pointing her forefinger at him, growling, "Especially you! You utter a single sentence and I will kill you, have you be brought back to life, and then kill you again just because it's enjoyable to kill you multiple times!"

Kyoufu smirked, but did not say anything. Everyone could tell what he was thinking, though, which was _Well, Miuri, if you think I'm so sexy why don't you come over here and get some of this sexiness?_

Which forced Miuri to turn even redder, turn away, grab Ai's arm, and promptly dragged the eleven-year-old (or maybe she was twelve by now... Ai's birthday was in early October and Miuri had no idea what time it currently was) outside, hoping to be able to breath outside in the cool air. Ai whined a bit about her arm hurting, but shut up earlier than Miuri was used to, which was nice. Ai must have grown up a little bit.

Miuri sat down on the steps that led up into the newly constructed temple where they were staying for this moment. Ai sat down next to her, a slightly confused look on her face.

"Did Ethan do anything to you?" Miuri asked.

"Other than save my life? No, not really," Ai answered.

"Nothing... sexual?"

"You sound like my dad!" Ai complained. "Ethan's a good guy. He didn't do anything to me."

"I'm just making sure," Miuri answered quickly. "You're a little girl who has been alone with a teenage boy for a while, now. I want to make sure that you're being safe and all."

"I've had the sex talk, I know what's right and what's wrong," Ai answered, waving it off. "Besides, I'm more worried about you and Mr. Freaking Sexy Demon Boy."

"D- don't call him that!" Miuri managed, her face deepening at least three shades darker.

"It's true, though, isn't it? You're the one who we need to be more worried about loosing her virginity. He looks at you like he wants to eat you or something, Miuri. I think that we ought to share a room or something so he doesn't come in during the night," Ai said seriously. "And with his looks, there is no way you would be able to say no if he asked you."

"I know..." Miuri mumbled, hoping her face wasn't too red, even though she knew it was. "He didn't used to look like that..."

Ai patted her arm. "All will be well. Especially after we find Jin and figure out how to save the world."

"Yeah," Miuri answered, sighing. "All we have to do is find Jin. Hopefully that won't be too hard. And hopefully he won't have done anything _too_ stupid."

Ai laughed at that. "Please! Nothing too stupid? We are talking about my big brother, right? Of course he's done something stupid by now! But that's okay. We'll hit him around a little bit later on, right?"

"I guess," Miuri sighed out.

"Excuse me, I need to... be somewhere else," Ai said as she looked over her shoulder. "Doing something else. Like talking with Hitorigami. Or something."

"What?" Miuri asked in confusion as Ai stood up and brushed herself off. The girl skipped inside and, as Miuri turned to watch her go, she saw Kyoufu standing in the doorway, giving her that slight grin that he had that made her heart beat faster. She looked away, hoping that he would go away. Instead, of course, he sat down next to her, leaning over so he could see her red face.

"You're kinda cute," he said, grinning again slightly.

"Shuddup," Miuri mumbled, pulling her knees up to her chin and burying her face in both her knees and her arms.

"I don't mind if you call me sexy," Kyoufu said, obviously enjoying himself. "In fact, do it whenever you like."

"Be quiet..." Miuri said into her knees.

"Of course, the price is that I get to do the same," he continued. "I mean, although it's great for you to compliment me whenever you want to, but don't I get to call you cute or pretty or wonderful or sweet or funny or adorable or amazing or anything like that? Not fair..."

Miuri slightly lifted her head, looking at him. His slight smile (which was different from his usual, cocky grin) indicated that he meant every word of what he had just said. Which just made Miuri turn slightly redder. However, she just couldn't bring herself to look away from his face.

He hesitantly lifted his hand and began gently rubbing her back. His hand was warm. Miuri was pretty sure that she wasn't thinking if she was allowing this to happen, but she was okay with that.

"Beautiful, too," Kyoufu breathed. "You're a really great girl, Miuri... someone I don't deserve at all... a demon who swears way too much and can't even use his full power falling in love with such an amazing girl that is surely an angel descended from heaven... wow... hard to even think about..."

Miuri was pretty sure that her face wouldn't turn redder. He was being so utterly romantic, calling her an angel... and what was this about being in love with her? Miuri wasn't really able to think because his hand felt really nice, going in circles and his red eyes were really amazing. Sparkling and smothering and heated and fiery and... she wasn't sure how to explain it.

Now he was leaning in, getting close to her face. Miuri lifted her head just enough so that her face was completely revealed to him. His other hand, not the one on her back, gently touched her cheek. His warm breath was occasionally touching her face as well. She was certain her's wasn't because the teenager knew that she wasn't breathing at all.

Unlike last time, their lips actually met this time. Miuri hadn't quite experienced her first kiss yet, so this was totally new for her. It felt like Kyoufu was experienced because he knew just what to do. Tilting his head slightly, his warm lips moved slightly, making it feel more comfortable.

Although Miuri had no idea what the heck she was doing, she was pretty sure that she was doing this kissing stuff okay. It was slow and soft, which meant that she wouldn't have to be worried about messing up if tried to be passionate or something. He seemed to feel her uncertainty, so he was gently and guiding.

It was shorter than she had expected it to be. Which meant, of course, that it lasted about twenty seconds instead of two minutes like she had expected. As he allowed his lips to leave her's, he stared into her eyes. Miuri felt rather dizzy as he did so. They had kissed. As in, kissed. Wow.

"Hi," she said weakly.

Kyoufu gave a slight laugh and whispered back, "Hiya."

"You're a jerk, you Stealer-of-First-Kisses," Miuri whispered back, putting her forehead against his.

"I'm really awful, I know," he answered. "But you were so beautiful that I couldn't help it."

Miuri, without thinking, gave him a very quick kiss on the lips, giggling. Kyoufu grinned happily at this, and pressed his lips against her cheek.

"You stupid romantic," Miuri whispered. "I really, really like you."

"I know," he breathed. "And I'm gonna make you love me if it's the last thing I do."

Kyoufu leaned in to kiss her again and Miuri gladly met her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck. She decided she was kind of happy with this sexy guy.

* * *

"I don't get it!" Ethan complained. "Why can't we go outside, Ai?" His fingers were absently holding and releasing a sword that Hitorigami had given him. Lately, the teenager hadn't been able to rest unless he had a sword in his hand. Maybe it had something to do with being a god, now. Or maybe it was just because he was weird.

"Miuri and Kyoufu have some important stuff to talk about," Ai stated.

"Like what?" Ethan asked.

"Boys are so blind," Ai answered, rolling her eyes as she pushed her hair out of her eyes.

Ethan slightly pouted at this. What was that supposed to mean? Stupid... tiny... little... thingy. Chick. Whatever. This was all confusing, and he didn't need another thing to add to his plate of confusing things. Which, by the way, was starting to get full. No more room on his plate. Everything would start to touch. Eew. Ethan didn't like his food to touch.

"What they are talking about doesn't really concern you," Hitorigami said, its eyes on the butterfly that was on its finger. "But I can tell you that Miuri isn't feeling alone anymore. Not at all."

"Whatever that's supposed to mean!" Ethan complained. "You may not really be a girl, Hitorigami, but you sure act like a woman the way you confuse me!"

Hitorigami frowned slightly but said nothing.

"Are you being sexist? Because I swear I'll hit you so hard you'll cry if you are," Ai said warningly, holding up a hand.

"We have more important things to discuss, you two," Hitorigami said. "Although, yes, being sexist is bad."

"Discussing what?" Ethan asked.

"Like your destinies. What lies ahead. And, most importantly, Jin Sakurada, also known as Kouin. His true destiny. His power. And what may happen to him at the end of this story," Hitorigami said softly, watching the butterfly as it turned around on its finger.

"What do you mean?" Ai asked, suddenly feeling a bit more concerned now that Jin was involved. Obviously. She wouldn't stop talking about him.

"In the end of the prophecy, which is a really long poem, it says a few things," Hitorigami continued. "Few would die in battle, but those who would included the Moon Goddess, who happens to be Kouin's half-sister. At the end, when all evil is vanquished... Kouin will disappear. He will never come back to the past again. He will be lost."

"Do you mean..." Ai began before taking a deep breath, her brown eyes wide.

"He will not die. However, he will disappear. You two, as well, will disappear. I... I don't know where you go, but you disappear... I thought that you ought to know that much," Hitorigami whispered. "Hopefully, you won't, but... it's... it's not very likely. You will disappear."

**A/N- DUN DUN DUUUUUNNN. Hitorigami is such a downer. Jeezums, don't invite her/him/it to my party... anyway, this chapter was fun to write. Jin being embarrassed because of Yuuki, Larka making fun of him, romanticness between Kyoufu and Miuri... what's not fun?? Anyway, thanks for reading! If you have the time, I'd appreciate it if you would review! :)  
**


	26. Violence and Cutting My Hair

**A/N- Thanks, ZAP IS ZAK!  
**

**Disclaimer: Shouldn't the fact that the disclaimer is even THERE indicate something?**

I managed to dodge the Lunar Cleaver, to which Larka seemed kind of pissed about. "You idiot! I told you that you need to freaking deflect the attack, not run away from it like the wimp that we all know that you are! For that, you get another penalty hit!" She punched my arm, making another bruise. There were four, now, I think.

It was more natural for me to move out of the way of things that were trying to slice up my body, but, hey, Larka was my teacher. I had to listen to whatever she said, or I would get the penalty hit, or, even worse, the penalty slice. Which is where she slices at me with the Lunar Cleaver. Exciting and scary, no? Just scary for me, though...

This is about the point that I usually explain what's going on, where we currently are, all that stuff, but Larka is swinging her sword at me, and I'm not very good at multitasking, so I'm going to focus on the action sequence until Yuuki gets dinner finished up and saves me from this fun. Wow, that was all one sentence.

Larka slashed at me again, and I jumped away, to the right. Larka gave me a malicious grin before running over to me, forcing me to back up... into a tree. Crap. She sliced right at me, and I managed to hold up my sword just before she cut me in half. Larka smirked before putting her sword down, breathing slightly hard.

"And, just to let you know, Frère, that is how to effectively tell what someone is going to do based off their other movements and force them into a situation where they have no choice but to finally do what you have been telling them to do for the past thirty minutes, dork," she said, putting the sword down. "Got it?"

"No," I managed out, breathing much harder than she was. My body so wasn't used to working this hard. Sure, it had gotten used to walking for hours at a time (my feet didn't hurt whenever I walked, now) but my body wasn't used to fighting to the death with Larka, who was an extremely skilled swordswoman who would kill me for sure if I screwed up on anything at all.

"Well, I guess we'll have to continue our lesson some more, won't we?" she asked calmly, holding her sword up to my throat with one hand despite the fact that it was obviously a rather weighty sword that I would be lucky to be able to hold onto with one hand.

"Oh, for the love of all that is holy, why did I have to say that?" I groaned, still panting.

Larka brought her sword back as though she had changed her mind, then suddenly tried to lop off my head, to which I ducked down low. It sliced off a lock of hair (I know that I was gonna cut my hair, but I hadn't gotten to it yet with this intense training...) but not my head, which was good. I popped up and tried to take a whack at her, but she easily deflected the blow.

"Finally taking the offensive, are we, Jin?" she asked calmly while she took an upward slash at me, knowing I wasn't very good at deflecting or dodging away from those. I managed to jump back before she ripped my pants in a very awkward way, to which she grinned, obviously pleased I was starting to learn. Finally. After forever. Like, a week and a half.

I was about to try another swing at Larka when Yuuki called, "Hey, you guys, get your butts over here! I'm done with your dinner! And, also, if you smell, sit on the other side of the fire or I swear that I'll kick your butt out of our camp!"

Ah, Yuuki. Wasn't she wonderful?

Larka punched my arm lightly, grinning. "Nice work today, Frère. You finally figured out that you can't dodge everything that I throw at you, didn't ya? Also, tomorrow, we're going to start working on your technique and how to get on the offensive better since you're not very good at that. It'll be less me trying to kill you and more you trying to kill me for a little while. Try to get back at me with all of your might, okay?"

"Please, I have to get back at you! I swear that I'm going to have more scars from you than from Lee," I joked, grinning as we walked back to the campground which we had strayed quite a bit from.

Huh. Well, I guess it's time to explain what has been going on... although I already sort of have explained it...

We, for the past few days, about a week and a half or two weeks now, have been traveling slowly south, taking our time, chatting a lot, occasionally enjoying some time to kill demons or even kill time... ha ha, not really, that would indicate that we were killing me, which wouldn't be a good thing. I'm so funny. Hilarious, really. Shut up. I know I'm not.

Oh, yeah, I found out the French word for older brother, which Larka had been calling me for a while now. It was "frère", I suppose. She had been calling me it, and, apparently, had called the Future Me that, too. However, I didn't catch what she was saying before, so this was news to me.

Yup. So... that's pretty much life with me. Happy violence.

"What's for dinner? Does it have meat?" Larka asked eagerly, slumping down on the other side of the fire, away from Yuuki.

Yuuki rolled her eyes, sighing. "Yes, it does. I made meat buns, onigiri, and cut up what we have left of the oranges. Since _someone_ keeps eating them..." her eyes, while rolling whilst she said these words, made their way over to Dravis, who had an orange peel in his hair. I couldn't help but wonder how it got there.

"Wasn't me," he said quickly, pointing to me. "It was him."

I rolled my eyes. Because both Larka and Yuuki had outlawed swearing unless it was absolutely necessary, he had been finding other ways to be somewhat mean to me, including blaming me for everything that he did that happened to be wrong. If he swore for no reason, it was my fault. If he flipped someone off, it was my fault. If he ate the food when Yuuki told him not to, it was my fault. Fun, fun...

"Stop blaming Jin," Yuuki said, frowning slightly. "Just because you don't like him that doesn't mean that you have the right to bully him."

Bully me?! What was I, that dorky teenager who everyone made fun of and all the nice girls felt sorry for?! Okay, that kind of bothered me... just a little bit...

"I'm not being bullied," I complained. "Dravis is just having problems expressing how he truly feels about me through words now that he gets punished every time he utters a curse word, so he uses other means to express how he feels, such as blaming me for everything. In other words, he hates me."

"Were you talking?" Larka asked as she stuffed half of her onigiri into her mouth. "Sorry, I wasn't listening since I'm used to ignoring you."

"Am I the only one that knows how to be nice to Jin?!" Yuuki complained, grabbing a slice of orange and chomping on it in annoyance. "By the way, Jin, you and I are going to be doing something about your hair tonight, because it's really starting to bug me that it's so long. It needs to get cut."

"You just wanna be alone with him," Larka said between the large amounts of food in her mouth.

Yuuki's face reddened. "Sh- shut up!"

"Da... ng," Dravis managed. "You rapist..."

"I'm not a rapist!" Yuuki squeaked. "Don't be an idiot! I just want to cut his hair since it's starting to go past his shoulders!"

I glanced at my shoulders. Huhn. So it was.

"I guess. He's starting to look like a girl," Dravis stated.

"My shoulders are too thick and my chest is too flat to be a girl's!" I cried. "Plus, I'm super tall! Like, two meters tall, **(for all ye Americans, like me, that's about six feet and four inches)** which is wayyy too tall for any Japanese lady! Are you..." I stopped myself before I could ask if he was stupid. I would probably just get in a fight again.

"Yuuki, where did you learn to cook like this, anyway? Your food tastes too good!" Larka said in excitement, stuffing a meat bun into her mouth.

"My dad. Back before..." she trailed off.

I frowned, wracking my mind. Did her dad die or something? I think so. I wasn't sure.

The rest of the meal we ate in awkward silence. Well, mostly. Larka muttered stuff to herself occasionally, obviously thinking about new ways to hurt me and make me learn how to use my sword. Ah, the joys of having a goddess/violent girl for you half-sister and your teacher.

"You two can clean up since you ate most of the food," Yuuki said, standing up. "Please don't do anything stupid while I help Jin with his hair."

"Come onnnnn!" Larka whined. "I've been working with Jin for a few hours in both physical and mental crap! Let me rest!"

"I've been doing nothing all day and I want to keep it that way," Dravis said, pouting.

"Don't whine, just do your chores," Yuuki said in a very mom-ish way before grabbing my arm and pulling me up and away from the nice and warm campfire, over to the nearby river that ran along the road that we were walking on to go to the Eastern Palace. Gosh, that was kind of long.

"Sit down," she instructed, pointing to a rock. "I can't reach your hair if you're standing."

"You seem able to reach my lips just fine..." I mumbled under my breath as I sat down.

"What was that?" Yuuki asked, frowning at me.

"Nothing," I answered quickly, obviously a little too quickly.

"I'll just pretend I didn't hear anything, then," Yuuki answered, rolling her eyes. "How short do you want it?"

"About five to ten centimeters shorter?" I guessed.

"I'll just have it be the same as when we first met, then," Yuuki said. She held out her hand and I blankly stared at it.

"What?"

"Give me your little knife, stupid," she answered, rolling her eyes again.

"Oh, right," I mumbled, pulling it out of my shirt pocket and handing it to her.

I felt extremely awkward around her. I mean, Yuuki had been in love with the past me and now like the current me, possibly even loved me. I still hadn't been quite open about my feelings toward her, either. And by not quite, I mean I had no idea how I was going to tell her that I liked her.

Also, even if I did like her, how could it work out at the current time? Blood all over me after beating up demons then her kissing me, or something? No, that wasn't a very ideal relationship. If I was going to get in a relationship with Yuuki, it would have to be at a better time.

Then again, that might just be me being scared to get into a relationship since I've never been in one, before. Being open about my feelings, hugging, going on dates... oh, the horror! I couldn't even imagine me being in such a position. Hugging Yuuki... ha ha... breasts...

"Your face is turning red, so I'm going to assume you're thinking about me," Yuuki said before hitting me on the back of the head. "Don't be stupid."

"S- sorry," I managed, looking down. I felt her hands take up a piece of my hair and a sudden image of her touching my cheek came into my mind. I shook my head, forcing her to let go.

"Jin, quit it," Yuuki said, putting a hand on her waist.

"Teenage boy mind likes coming in to haunt me today," I answered. "Just start talking to me, telling me I'm stupid or something. I might stop thinking about sexual things, then."

Wait, was stroking someone's cheek sexual? Could it be considered sexual or is it just a loving gesture? Geh, I dunno.

"What should I talk about?" she asked, beginning to cut my hair now that I was trying to keep those images out of my mind.

"I dunno... what was I like before I disappeared and all?" I asked.

"A pedophile," she answered calmly.

"W- what?" I managed, turning slightly.

"Keep your face forward, Jin," Yuuki said. "You were a pedophile. What kind of a person falls in love with a six-year-old, after all?"

I felt my heat up. Okay, that was true. Kind of pedophile-ish.

"You were really nice, though. You played with me all of the time, helped me with my chores, and even bought me toys and clothes," Yuuki said. "I never really understood why you were so nice to me, though. You never told me how you felt about me. You were... my best friend..."

I glanced up at her. Her eyes were slightly glazed over as she remembered what I was like before. I wondered how different I was.

"You came to me, one day, and told me that you had to disappear for a while. Then you admitted to me that you had fallen in love with me at first sight, despite the fact that I was still a child. You... you were perverted enough that you took my first kiss at that exact moment."

I winced. I had appeared to be in my twenties, and I had kissed a ten-year-old girl who probably looked up to me like I was the big brother that she never had. I felt depression grab me. I was so gross in the past. Even if I still thought weird things, at least I didn't go about with those actions, now...

"I was in love with you, too. I had no idea what was going on, but... I realized that I had those kind of feelings for you. I told you how I felt after you kissed me, and you told me that you would come back for me. That you would most definitely come back and marry me when I was older."

I glanced up to her in surprise. I had said such a thing? Jeez. What a romantic. And how weird was it that she had felt the same? That was way too big of an age difference for me.

"For the next four years, I waited for you. Even after my father was killed right in front of my eyes and very few kids in my village were left alive, I still waited for you in that little shock. I saw you for the first time and knew immediately that it was you. You... you had no idea who I was."

"You acted kind of stiff at first," I answered. "Why didn't you go up and hug me or something?"

"I expected you to hug me or something," she answered. "When you introduced yourself, I was caught off guard and I just answered. My mind got a little busy and I slipped into polite mode. I was trying to figure out why you didn't know me... why you had forgotten me..."

Her hands, which were cutting my bangs, were now shaking. I could see tears in her beautiful, golden eyes.

"Oh, Yuuki, I'm-" I began.

"No," she answered, rubbing the tears away and shaking her head. "I- I'm fine. Don't worry."

In response, I stood up and hugged her. Her body was shaking. I was such an idiot. Such an idiot.

"J... Jin..." Yuuki said in a really tiny voice.

"I'm here now," I said softly into her hair. "Don't worry."

I will say that right now, I have no idea what the freaking crap what I was doing. All that I really knew at that moment was that I seriously liked Yuuki. A lot. I really didn't want to see her crying because of something that I had done in the past. I wanted her to always be smiling...

Be always smiling at me.

"U- um, Jin, I should probably finish up your hair," she mumbled into my chest.

I noticed, at that point, that she had long-since stopped crying. I felt my face heat up and I quickly let go of her.

"R- right! Sorry, sorry!" I quickly sat down, closing my eyes tight. What had I been doing? Hugging Yuuki for a long amount of time in a romantic way: not in the book of things to do to make sure that we don't end up together. Not at all. Jeez... idiot me again!

We finished off my hair quickly and in silence. Neither of us really wanted to talk about my feelings at the moment, being that they were confusing feelings that probably shouldn't exist in the first place. I should have gotten a crush on someone else... but not Larka. For the love of all that is holy, never am I going to like Larka like that again.

As I walked back to our camp, I felt a little bit sick. Sick with dread. Kind of like... "OH CRUD SOMETHIN BAD GONNA HAPPEN SO THIS SUX" type of bad...

I shook my head. Keep your head clear. No matter what happens, it can't be too awful. No worse than Ai and Miuri being taken prisoner by Lee. That was really bad. And to think of what he might be doing to them... like raping them or something... I shuddered just thinking about it. Ewwwww...

"Hey, Yuuki, your hair's all messy in the back," Dravis said, holding out a hand to Larka, who, sighing, took out about five hundred yen and placed it in the demon's hand.

"Jin, I was counting on you to not do anything pervy so I would win the bet," Larka half-whined half-said, pouting at me.

"You were... you were betting on us?!" Yuuki squeaked out, her face reddening.

"With your sex appeal and Jin's teenage boy problems and you two being alone... well, we couldn't resist," Dravis answered, shrugging.

I smacked my hand to my forehead. "Fudge."

"We- we were just hugging!" Yuuki cried. "I swear! We didn't do anything wrong! I just... got a little upset, so he was hugging me to make me feel better!"

"Still sexual enough to let me win the bet," was Dravis's answer.

"I'm going to bed," was all I said, turning away.

These people were so weird.

* * *

"He looks so much more relaxed when he's sleeping," Yuuki said, brushing some of her hair behind her ears and watching as Jin slept peacefully. "It's cute."

"I guess," Larka answered, watching the flames die down. "I don't know if I can call the dork cute, though, because he's my half-brother. It just feels weird. Plus, he's way too tall. I like short guys."

"Obviously, since Dravis is a midget," Yuuki said, smirking slightly.

"It's adorable!" Larka said, giggling.

Wow. Talking to Larka about what she liked in a guy... giggling about boys... Yuuki couldn't believe it. What a strange happening had happened.

"You should get to bed soon," Larka said, pulling her map out from who knows where. "It's getting pretty late."

"I guess," Yuuki answered, pulling her knees up to her chin. "I'm not very tired, though..."

"Ohhh..." Larka said, seeing something on the map.

"What?"

"It's a hot springs! Just about fifteen kilometers from here! We should go so we don't smell like crap," Larka said. "After all, then it's just about twenty kilometers to the Eastern Palace."

"Really?" Yuuki asked, surprised Larka would be interested in taking a bath.

"Yeah..." Larka was getting a somewhat freaky smile on her face. "We should go..."

Yuuki had no idea what Larka was thinking, but she knew that it was probably evil.

"Does it have to do with me?" Yuuki asked.

"Somewhat," Larka muttered.

"In a bad way?"

"Nope."

"Well, all right then."

"Good night while I scheme all night!"

"... good night... Larka..."

**A/N- Ha ha, finished! :) That's always good! Reviewing would be nice, but you don't have to~**


	27. Bathing is Nice But Kissing is Better

**A/N- Thanks, ZAP IS ZAK! :'D You is so nice for always reviewing! Have a cookie!  
**

**Disclaimer: NO OWN OKAMEH**

I stared. A... hot springs? Really? REALLY?

"Wow... it really is the biggest in all of Nippon," Larka said. "Bath house connected to a hot springs... wowie-zowie! I'll never get to go to another, I bet, so we'd best go now."

I stared at her. Uhh... what? What did she mean by that?

Dravis wrapped his arms around Larka. "I wanna take a bath with youuuu..."

"No," Larka growled.

"Pleeassse..."

"No."

"Come oonnnnn..."

"For the God's sake, Dravis, no!"

"Punishment for swearing, dear Larka~"

"Draviissss!"

I watched them, one eyebrow raised. For once, Dravis was actually showing that he cared about her. Or, at the very least, had teenage boy wants that included sexual feelings. Or something along those lines, anyway. He might have just been teasing her.

I glanced over to Yuuki, who was giggling slightly. Her cute little smile forced my entire face to burn bright red. I looked away, choosing to stare at a rock that was beside my foot instead, hoping that she didn't notice how pretty I thought she was.

"Jin, is something wrong?" I heard her ask. "You seem really tense. I guess this was a good idea."

"Your fault," I muttered before striding on ahead to catch up with Larka, who was shouting at Dravis while they walked inside.

"What was that?" she asked, quickly catching up to me.

"Nothing!" I cried.

"Why is your face so red, then?" she asked, her face extremely bright as though she was thoroughly enjoying teasing me.

"No reason!" I managed before entering the bath house and bumping into Larka and Dravis.

Little birds. Little birds were running the hot springs/bath house/whatever the crap this place was. Holding towels, running around while holding food, talking with other birds... I know I should be used to this kind of crap by now, but this just weirded me out.

"This... is... so amazing!" Yuuki squeaked from right behind me. "This is the Sasa Sanctuary! I've dreamt about coming here for so long! This is amazing!"

"Sort of," Larka answered. "Since demons kind of took over Sasa Sanctuary and burned Sparrow Inn down to the ground, the relocated over here, were the Demons Against King Lee Society have managed to place their protection over."

"Hunger... bird..." Dravis said, watching a bird skip past. "Mmmm..."

"Don't be stupid," Larka said calmly.

Meanwhile, I was still in amazement. Birds. Golly, the past sure was weird.

A small bird that had gray in its feathers walked right up to Larka, wearing blue clothes. "Could it be... my, it's been quite some time, Larka."

"Dude, I know. Like... a while," Larka said, frowning and thinking.

"And even longer, Kouin," he said, bowing to me.

"Why bow to the pervert but not me?" Larka complained.

"Because I haven't seen this guy for, like, twenty years, that's why," the bird answered snobbily.

"You're so cuuuuutte!" Yuuki squealed. "I wanna hug you and hold you and... ohhhhh, you're just so adorable!"

"Whoa, freak-out session," the bird said.

"Who's the bird?" Dravis asked bluntly.

"The bird is right here!" the bird snapped. "And the bird's name is Tori!"

"Well, isn't that the same thing?" Dravis asked. "Tori and tori... bird and bird... same diff..."

"Shut up, stupid demon!" Tori snapped, stopping on the ground. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

"Well, Tori does mean bird..." Larka said.

Whoa. The bird's name was bird. Whoa. That was epic.

I glanced over to Yuuki, who had a bright smile on her face while she watched Tori freak out at Larka and Dravis because he was being called his name. Her cheeks were rosy, but not blushing at this moment. She was an absurdly beautiful girl. I was starting to feel a little amazed that she could fall for a dork like me.

"Oi, lover-boy," Larka shouted at me. "Come on, we're getting some rooms. You and Dravis are sharing."

"Noooo!" Dravis shouted, falling to his knees and looking to the ceiling. "Why?! Why?! Why couldn't I just be happy for one day?! What cruel punishment is this?! Why, O Gods in Heaven Above, must I suffer to deal with the fag that is Jin?!"

"Stop being so dramatic," was all Larka said in reply.

Fag? That was a little harsh.

But still. Whoa. It was a bird named Tori, which meant bird. Whoa.

* * *

"The water is hot!" Larka announced as she sat down in the pool of hot water.

"I'd guess..." Yuuki answered, hesitantly putting a single foot in the hot water. It was hot. And steamy.

Larka glanced over to the other girl, who had no idea what Larka was planning. Which was, quite simply, to get Yuuki to reveal her powers and get her to spill where Jin's shrine/temple/whatever was. Yuuki was the only person alive who knew, and, as team leader, Larka had to figure out how to make the other girl spit it out.

She, to do this, would need Jin's help... his willing to give away his second kiss. Yuuki had been mentally and emotionally scarred because of what had happened. Seeing her father tortured and murdered right in front of her eyes, watching all of her village be slaughtered... Larka was almost certain that Yuuki had forced these things to be forgotten.

On a bit of a lighter note, Larka was pleased to find that her breasts weren't a fourth the size of Yuuki's like she had thought, but they were, instead, a third. Quite nice to know, yes.

"So, what would you do if Jin walked in here right now?" Larka asked casually.

"Throw something at him, scream at him, stuff like that," Yuuki answered, shrugging. "Or maybe I'd just sit back and watch you work your magic. After all, Larka, you could kill him with a single finger, I'm sure, and no one would ever know."

"Wouldn't you want your future husband, I dunno, _alive_?" Larka asked, laughing.

Yuuki grinned wickedly. "I wouldn't mind him dead if he did anything to me."

Larka took in a deep breath. "So, what if your dad walked in right now?"

"I'd ask him what the heck he was doing in the women's bathing area," Yuuki replied. Her eyes softened slightly. "And... and how he got there... and if this meant he was going to come back here..."

Larka felt her heart lurch slightly. Despite the fact that, at the beginning when they first met, Larka couldn't stand Yuuki, they had somehow managed to become pretty good friends, as long as they ignored the other's faults to the best of their extents.

"Sorry, I brought up something painful," Larka said softly.

"It's fine," Yuuki said softly.

"What do you suppose the guys are doing?" Larka asked, hoping to make the air a bit lighter before she took another stab at seeing if Yuuki would tell.

"Arguing," Yuuki answered. "I'll bet you ten thousand yen that they're arguing right now."

"I won't take that bet because I know I'll loose," Larka replied.

Yuuki sighed and Larka could feel a welt of jealousy beginning to form. Despite the fact that Larka was a goddess and therefore should be beautiful and such, Larka felt like she was nothing next to Yuuki. A human girl shouldn't be able to be that smokin' hot. Not right.

Larka pushed it aside. She needed to focus on the big picture right now.

"So... do you remember where the temple is?" Larka asked, trying to keep casual.

"Which temple?" Yuuki asked, sounding somewhat surprised.

"You know, the one where Jin used to live. His shrine," Larka said.

"Oh." Yuuki looked away, biting her bottom lip. "No."

"Are you sure?" Larka asked. "I mean, we have to find it, ya know. Jin's powers are there."

"I said I didn't know where it is," Yuuki answered flatly. "Stop asking."

Okay, so, yeah, Larka would have to get Jin's help on this one. Hopefully she could get him to spare some romanticness (although his hitting-on-girls skills were probably extremely low, Larka supposed anything would work with Yuuki as long as it was Jin) so that she could get the information that she needed.

"Well, the hot water is already starting to make me feel a little light-headed, so I'll be getting out, now," Larka said, standing up.

"I'm gonna stay here a bit longer," Yuuki murmured.

A slow and creepy smile fought it's way onto Larka's face as she left. Yuuki... she would spill all of her secrets... including her cup size...

* * *

I laid in my room, staring up at the ceiling. Nothing was there but ceiling. That's right. And I was bored. Ughhhh... so bored...

"Knock knock," I heard as Larka opened the door, wearing a purple and black silky kimono. "Where's Dravis?"

"He's too good at rock-paper-scissors for me..." I answered, lazily sitting up. "We played like, ten times, to see who would go in to the bath first, and he beat me every freaking time... I swear, I probably just have bad luck, knowing me."

"I'd agree with the last part," Larka agreed, sitting in front of me.

As I looked her up and down, I stifled a snort. Despite the fact that she was wearing a kimono and we were inside, she was still wearing those escalator-type boots. I couldn't help but wonder if they were like a comfort blanket to her or something, because I had almost never seen her socks. I had never seen her toes.

"What's so funny, dork?" she growled.

"Nothing," I answered, shaking my head and laughing slightly.

"By the way," Larka said, suddenly scooting over a bit closer to me. "I was wondering if you had any of your past memories..."

"Uh, no," I replied.

"Talked to my- our mom lately?"

"Nope."

"I see." She seemed slightly disappointed. "Well, I guess we have no choice, then."

"About what?" I asked.

"I need you to be romantic with Yuuki so she can spill some secrets that we need the answers to or we won't be able to progress after meeting with the princess of Nippon and the prince of the Moon. Which, as you know, would be a bad thing," Larka stated.

"Uh, what?" I asked, not making the connection.

Larka sighed and rolled her eyes. I had the feeling that she was wondering how stupid I could possibly be.

"Basically, Yuuki was scarred by some memories that she doesn't want to remember, so we need you to make her a bit more... ditz-ish so we can get her to speak her mind with no problems. I don't think she'd drink much saké, so we're on our own with this one," Larka said.

"What would I be asking her?"

"Where your shrine is located," she answered.

"How do I be romantic?"

"I dunno, figure something out," Larka replied, standing up and dusting off her kimono. "Make sure to do it soon. If we don't figure out where your shrine is... well, basically, we're all screwed."

Ah, the wonderfulness that is having the world's fate resting upon your shoulders. I fell back into the staring at the ceiling-type fun, thinking. How had my life turned out like this? Nothing felt simple any more. In fact, I couldn't be idiotically bored and stupid anymore without it serving some form of eternal purpose.

I desperately wanted to be able to see someone from the future so I could know that that part of my life wasn't a dream or something. I really wanted someone to be there for longer than five minutes, as well, and for them not to be captured by Lee. Like that would ever happen. Pe-shaw.

I closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths. Fall asleep, Jin. Fall asleep. That's when things make sense...

Without even realizing, I drifted off into sleep. I guess. It felt like the same, just with my eyes closed. Maybe some sort of weird thing was going to happen? As if the universe wanted to confirm this for me, I heard someone speak.

_"Kouin..."_

_Oh, great, not that name again..._

_"Kouin, can you hear me?"_

_Sure._

_"Kouin, you have to speak if you can hear me."_

_"I'm here. Who're you?" I asked, opening my eyes.  
_

_I was still laying down, but now in a completely white space. A gray-haired fox-eared girl in a black kimono stood before me, lips pursed._

_"Kouin, I am Hitorigami, a life-long friend that you have forgotten. One of the few gods that you chose to interact with," Hitorigami said. "I am neither male nor female, so please... do not call me female, no matter how much I would like to be so."_

_Meh. Wasn't as weird as the bird named Tori._

_"Yeah, cool, so what do you want?" I asked._

_"I would like to ask where your shrine is so that we may meet there later," Hitorigami said._

_"Um, see, I would love to, but I don't know where it is," I answered._

_Hitorigami frowned. "Well, that's somewhat frustrating. I need you to find out. Otherwise, we will not be able to meet, which could spell doom for this planet."_

_"Oh. Yeah, could be bad," I agreed._

_"Where is the Priestess?"_

_"Ya mean Yuuki? I think she's in the bath right now."_

_"Speak with her immediately," Hitorigami commanded. "Find out where the shrine is, then tell me while you dream tonight. I need to know, lest I will not be able to help you and you will not be able to see those that you most dearly wish to see."_

_That caught me off guard. "Who? Who do I want to see?"_

_Hitorigami gave me a flicker of a smile. "I believe you know. Wake up."_

_Dang it, I hate mysteriously ending dreams._

_

* * *

_I sat up, feeling a bit bleary. Larka and Dravis were kneeling down next to me.

"Jeez, finally!" Larka complained. "You've been asleep for, like, ever! I even yelled in your ear and you wouldn't wake up!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"It's morning. You slept throughout all of yesterday and last night. It's about noon, now, so we were starting to get a little worried," Larka said, folding her arms. Dang, I was asleep that long?! What the crappidy crap was wrong with me lately?!

That was about the point that I noticed Yuuki, who was sitting a safe distance away from me. Her hair was shinier than usual and her skin seemed to glow more. Bathing had obviously done nothing to her beauty but enhance it. I felt my face begin to burn as I stared at the short-skirted low-dipping kimono she was wearing. Hot. That's all I could think.

"Uh huh..." I mumbled, looking down. "Sure."

Larka rolled her eyes. "You don't even know what I was talking about."

"Sorry..." I was paying more attention to me bare feet than anything. Don't think about Yuuki, don't think about Yuuki...

The dream suddenly came back with force and I blinked. "Hey, Larka, do you know anyone named Hitorigami?"

Larka stared at me. "Uh, duh. It's, like, the gossip-center of the gods. Everyone loves to make fun of it for being so reclusive and depressing."

"Well... she... it... whatever came into a dream last night," I stated.

"Seriously?!" Larka demanded. "What did it say?!"

"It talked about the thing that we talked about yesterday," I answered casually.

"I see... now it's, like, five times as important," Larka said, frowning. "Make sure to do it ASAP."

"Got it," I answered.

Larka, as though deciding to hurry the process along a bit, stood up, grabbed Dravis's arm, pulling him up as well, and dragged the confused emo out of the room. I watched them go, giving a little wave as they went, leaving Yuuki and I alone. Great. How to begin this...?

"I'll be leaving, too, I guess," Yuuki mumbled, standing up and brushing herself off.

"Wait," I began, grabbing her arm as she walked by. "Don't... don't go..."

Her face reddened considerably, but she sat down beside me. She was looking down, her thick eyelashes covering her golden eyes. She was so beautiful. Way too good for me.

My hand snaked its way around her shoulders and she jumped slightly, looking up at me with wide eyes. I silently pulled her to me, hoping that she wouldn't freak out and run away from me or something. Quite the opposite happened, luckily for me, and she slightly leaned against me.

I was starting to feel a little dizzy. What was I supposed to be doing again? Did it matter? I doubted it did, because all that seemed to matter at that particular moment was that Yuuki smelled good. Better than before since she had had a bath.

I buried my head into her hair and breathed into her ear, "You're really beautiful, you know that?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her give a little smile. I wasn't moving too fast, I guess. My right hand moved from the floor where it had been sitting to over Yuuki's. Her cute little smile got a little bit bigger. I felt extremely content at that moment and felt like there was no reason why I should move.

Why did I not want us to be together? This was wonderful. I didn't know how it was possible, but with every moment that passed, I fell for her more and more. I was certain, by this point, that I was in love with her. This beautiful, wonderful girl who I so desperately was in love with... how could she even possibly like me a little bit like that?

At that moment, as though unable to contain myself, I whispered into her ear, "I love you, Yuuki."

Her eyes widened considerably and she looked at me, her lips slightly opened. For some reason, that just made it more obvious to me that I was in love with her. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew that it was something that was right.

I touched her cheek, leaned close to her face, and kissed her gently on the lips. Her lips eagerly kissed mine back. Again, I couldn't understand why I didn't want this before.

I was drunk off Yuuki, and I didn't care. My arms changed position so they were around her waist. Yuuki's also changed, hooking themselves around my neck. The kiss was slowly becoming more and more passionate and I was feeling dizzy for some reason. Ah, that's right, I needed air. I wanted the kiss almost as much as I needed the air, though, so I kept the kiss going for a couple more seconds.

Finally, I parted, gasping and flushed. Yuuki's wide eyes stared into mine. She looked much more dizzy than I was. Which was about the point that I remembered what I was supposed to be doing.

"Yuuki," I whispered, putting my forehead against hers. "You want me to regain my memories, don't you?"

"Yes," she answered in a tiny voice.

"Then you have to tell me where my shrine is," I continued. "And I'm not kidding about loving you, by the way. I really do."

"I love you, too," she whispered.

"Then, please, tell me, where is it?" I begged.

"Do you remember where we first met as Yuuki and Jin?" she asked softly. "That little abandoned cottage with all the demons around? There was a forest close by. It's about two or three kilometers in there. It's where we lived... that's where..."

I gently kissed her again on the lips before whispering, "Thank you, Yuuki."

She blushed deeper before asking, "Are we... together, now?"

"I dunno, do you wanna be?" I asked, giving a weak laugh.

"Very much," she answered.

"You have to deal with my pervertedness," I whispered. "Do you think you'll be able to handle it?"

"Yes," Yuuki replied firmly. "Trust me."

I laughed before kissing her again. She didn't allow it to be less than a second long like our last had been, choosing to make it a bit more passionate by pulling me closer to her face. I kissed her back, feeling amazingly happy and warm.

"Okay, okay, knock off the sappy stuff," Larka said in disgust as she walked in, making us both turn bright red. "Seriously, you guys are the most grossly lovey-dovey couple I have ever friggin' seen... it makes me feel like I'm gonna loose my breakfast at any given time."

"Larka!" I snapped, standing up. "I was finally accepting my feelings and crap like that and you had to ruin it! Why do you always ruin our romantic moments?!"

"Because I feel sick if I don't," Larka answered. "Incomplete, if you will."

"Come on!" I complained. "You gotta be kidding me! Cut it out! You're such an annoying little sister!"

"Part of my charm," she snorted back.

I felt a hand take my own, and I glanced over to see Yuuki holding my hand, a gentle smile on her face. "Just let it go for now, okay? There will be plenty of time to do that sort of thing later, so for now, just calm down a bit and let it go."

"Sure," I answered automatically.

"If Yuuki smiled at you and told you to jump off a cliff in a cutesy voice you'd do it," Dravis snorted, who I hadn't notice come in. "Don't be controlled by a woman."

Both Yuuki and Larka hit him.

I grinned. I felt a lot better about today for some reason.

* * *

"Night, Dravis," I said as I closed my eyes.

"Whatever," was his muffled answer.

I felt clean. It was a good feeling. I hadn't been clean in so long, so knowing that I smelt like roses was really nice. The best part of it was that it seemed to attract Yuuki a lot more, too. If it made Yuuki happy, then it made me happy. Always. Forever.

I felt so stupid and happy and in love.

I closed my eyes and felt myself automatically drift into that weird-not-quite-dreaming mode.

_"Kouin... are you all right?" Hitorigami asked, one eyebrow raised.  
_

_"Uh huh," I answered, grinning like an idiot._

_"Are you sure?"_

_"Yup. Wait, no. I'm not."_

_Hitorigami sighed, looked up, and then asked, "Do you know, now?"_

_"Yup," I answered. "In a forest."_

_"A forest? Where?"_

_"Up north, near where I met Yuuki," I stated._

_"Ah, you mean Yoshpet?" it asked._

_"I dunno," I answered._

_"A big, foreboding forest?" it asked, folding its arms._

_"Yeah," I replied, remembering. "Scary-looking. Didn't like it. I think."_

_"Your shrine is in Yoshpet!" Hitorigami groaned. "Of all of the places, why did you pick there? How are we supposed to find it in Yoshpet?"_

_"Dunno," I answered. "Doesn't that mean 'the Consuming Forest'?"_

_"Yes," Hitorigami muttered. "It does."_

_"Scary," I said calmly._

_"Let's leave it at that for today, Kouin..." Hitorigami muttered, sighing. "I'll talk with you later when I figure out how to get through such a place."_

_"Wait, who do I want to see?" I asked, hoping so desperately, but not knowing if it was true._

_"Two young girls," Hitorigami replied. "One being your age and the other being eleven."_

_I felt myself choke. Miuri and Ai. They were safe. They were safe._

_"Now, I really must go. Day is beginning to break and you are all leaving tomorrow to start your journey again," Hitorigami stated._

_"I-" I began, but the dream ended suddenly again. Dang it. I was starting to really dislike this... this... thing.  
_

**A/N- Happy V-Day!... I guess... I hate this holiday, but I guess it's a good one for these people since they get together that day. Sort of. lol You'll understand later.**


	28. My Ex GF is Scary

**A/N- WEWT! I gots two, now! Thanks, ZAP IS ZAK and rexy-plexy95! :D**

**Disclaimer: Well, I don't own Okami, Larka, Gin, Dravis, or Rosco, but, yeah, pretty much everything else is mine.**

"Tomorrow, we'll be in the city and then we can do lots of stuff that have to do with politics! Hoorayyy..." Larka said sarcastically. She, actually, seemed pretty bummed about this. After all, we were stuck so luckily with having to do the political-type stuff.

"I know, Lar-Lar, it's suckish," I said in a "Hey, you're a cute wittle baby!" voice. "It'll be okay..."

She gave me the death glare and I chose to shut up at that particular moment. That seemed to be a wise move, because she drew in a breath and looked away at that moment.

Of course, being the idiot that I happen to be, I was singing a Wizard of Oz song in my head... _You're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, you'll find he is a Whiz of a Wiz is ever a Wiz there was, if ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was the Wizard of Oz is one because, because, because, because, because, because, because of the wonderful things he does you're off to see the wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!_

OKAY, SHUT UP, I WAS BORED.

We wouldn't quite make it to the city by nightfall, so we had agreed to camp for one night and just take it easy today. Tomorrow, when we arrive, we'll probably all be covered in demon guts and mud and other crap like that. And it'll be raining, and-and, there will be epicness, and, um, lightening will strike all around us, and...

I said I was bored, didn't I?

Yuuki, luckily for you people who are bored to death of my idiotic rantings about nothing in particular that always seem to get off track just like they are at this exact moment, grabbed my hand and smiled warmly up at me. I felt a stupid smile paste itself onto my face. Ah, the things girls did to me.

"Ewww, their loveyness is gross! I can see it sparkling! Sick and wrong, man!" Larka said, giving us the cross with her two forefingers which made no sense since she was a god of a different religion...

"You're so immature, Larka," I said, rolling my eyes. "We're just holding hands."

"But it's icky!" she whined. "Do it later, man..."

In response, I frowned at her and said, "Am I not your elder brother? Treat me with some respect, She-Who-Needs-Escalator-Boots to be average sized..."

"Respect? How can I respect you? You have weird hairs on your head!" she cried, pointing to my two hairs that were weird. Okay, I had to agree with her there... they were pretty weird.

"I think it's cute," Yuuki said, making me feel all floaty again.

"I'm gonnnaaa diiiiieeee..." Dravis finally said from behind. "My life suuuuckkkkksssss..."

We stopped, once again, to allow him to catch up. You see, after Yuuki said no to eating too much of our food supplies, Dravis started getting hungry. He tried a hundred and one ways to get her to give up some food, but she just shook her head. So, now, he's walking super-slow and moaning and whining. WIMP.

"Dravis, I-" Larka began, but was interrupted by about twenty demons suddenly bursting out of the bushes and running across the road.

"Holy shizzz!" one screeched. "It's gonna get us, it's gonna get us! Holy crap, this was not in my job description!"

"Me neither! That's scary as piss!" another screamed.

"What the mufffinnnnnn!?" a third shouted as they ran away from the bushes.

A small cat came out from the bushes, looking somewhat annoyed. As I stared at it, I blinked. Huh. It had a forked tail. That's a little weird...

Yuuki gripped my arm a bit harder and looked up to me with wide eyes. "It's a Bakeneko, Jin! That's freaky!"

Bakeneko... Bakeneko... right, Bakeneko! That's a cat who became a spirit, of sorts. They could create fireballs and could inhabit dead people's bodies. Of course, then again, I never was very good with Japanese folklore, so I might've been off.

The cat looked at us for a moment before suddenly hissing, its hair standing up.

"I'll deal with the stupid cat," Larka growled. "I hate cats. Maybe it just has to do with my wolfish ancestors or something, but I absolutely can't stand them!"

I chuckled. "And you hate bugs, too, huh?"

"Shut up!" she snapped.

The cat suddenly stopped yowling, sat its furry butt down, and licked its paw. Which kind of confused all of us. Then, as soon as it was done, it turned back into super-pissy cat of evil spiritual demonic doom and crap like that. You know, the whole fun in a bottle or whatever.

"Okayyy, so I'll take care of it _now_!" Larka said, rolling her eyes and pulling the Lunar Cleaver out of nothingness. I needed to learn how to do that.

The cat, catching us all off guard, turned into a girl right before our eyes. She had two fans and had long black hair. She frowned at all of us, slightly holding one of her fans just under her chin. She was wearing one of those super-big kimono-type things that look like they're incredibly annoying to move around in.

"Don't you dare attack me, Moon God," the Bakeneko said, sticking her tongue out at Larka, which seemed to get my half-sister kind of pissed. "I am not here to deal with you."

"Then what're you here for, BAKAneko?!" Larka snapped. **(Ha ha, that's a pun... baka means stupid, and neko means cat. So, stupid cat)**

"Kouin-sama is here, I could not help but be attracted to his wonderful presence," she said, sighing and fluttering her eyelashes at me. Please tell me she didn't know me...

"Stop flashing your presence about, you dork!" Larka snapped, glaring at me. "You attract way too many stupid girls who remember their one night of passion with you much too well!"

"You don't teach me anything, so how should I know how to stop flashing my presence?!" I demanded. "And, also, can you not phrase it that way?! I don't want to think of all of the stuff that I did with girls before I erased all of my memories or whatever!"

"Kouin-sama, you don't remember me?" she asked, sounding crestfallen. "I was your very last girlfriend before you disappeared..."

"Correction," Yuuki said, frowning. "Technically, I was, even if it was only for, like, five minutes."

"Who's the more beautiful one, though?"

"Who's not a ghost?"

"Ugh, you're annoying."

"Look at who is talking!"

"Why don't you?!"

I sighed, staring at the wonderful sun and wrote a letter in my head. _Dear Mommy, thanks for everything that you do for me, like sending me a beautiful girlfriend and helping me through hard times and all of that stuff. But, next time you give birth to a child, can you give them sex ed so they don't go around with random chicks, doing whatever they want? Yeah, thanks. Oh, and make sure to tell them they have siblings or they'll get confused. Sincerely, your son, Jin or Kouin or whatever you want to call me._

"Either way, Jin is my boyfriend now!" Yuuki finally said, sounding frustrated and grabbing my arm. "Mine!"

Whoa, I was her property now? When did that happen? Part of me didn't like the sound of being owned by Yuuki while the other side of me was very interested in what could happen if I was owned by Yuuki... no, Master, we shouldn't... wait, get out, weird fantasies!

The Bakeneko grabbed my other arm. "I'm certain he still loves me, somewhere deep in his heart!"

"Hey, am I allowed to say who I love?" I asked.

"No!" both girls shouted.

"Oh, wait, unless it's me," Yuuki said, smiling up at me.

"I-" I began, but was interrupted.

"Never say the fatal words, Kouin-sama! You'll be damned to hell for all eternity!" the Bakeneko cried.

"But-" I began again, but the girls were fighting again. I looked over to Larka, desperate for help. However, it seemed that she was helping Dravis raid the food. Darn her!

"SHUT UP!" I finally snapped and both girls let go, looking terrified. "I know I'm absolutely wonderful and handsome and crap like that, but I need a certain amount of space. You, Bakeneko-girl! I don't remember a thing about you, and I don't think I want to! Yuuki, you are my freaking soul-mate and have been that way without me really realizing it for the past eight years or so! So you two, shut up! That's who I love!"

"Take charge!" Larka said, her mouth full of food.

"Larkaaa!" Yuuki cried upon seeing that she and Dravis were getting into the food. "Dravis, what are you two doing?!"

"Fooooooooodd..." Dravis said, his eyes wide as he stuffed his face.

By this point, I had lost control of what was going on. Why? I dunno. With our little group, only insanity and oddness could ensue. I blamed the Internet.

"You let go of him!" the Bakeneko cried, suddenly grabbing onto my arm. "He's mine by forfeit!"

"You obviously weren't listening to a word I said," I stated, glancing down at the girl. "Leggo."

"You're my one true love!" she cried desperately. "Oh, Kouin-sama, I love you as much as the moon is envious of the sun for the brighter glow! I love you as much as the heaven is away from the earth! I love as much as death touches life! I love you!"

"Well, that was poetic, even if it didn't make any sense," I stated, raising an eyebrow. "Plus, I'm not interested. I don't even know your name."

The girl didn't seem to be too pleased to hear that. She took a step away from me, no longer looking desperate but instead looking angry and full of hatred. To be honest, that scared me a little bit, because either she was on her period and was having serious mood swings or she wanted revenge because I didn't love her. Please be the first.

Of course, when have I been lucky?

Kitty ears on girls are cute in most situations, except when the girl has fangs and has grown her nails out so long that she could touch her nose with them while holding her hand an arm's length away. Her eyes were slits and she looked seriously pissed.

"Uhhh, Larka, was that supposed to happen?" I asked, glancing over to them.

Larka shook her head while putting some food back into the bag where she had take it out from. "Nu-uh, man, you're screwed. Get out your sword or she'll kill you."

"Yeah, that's freaky," Yuuki said as she held onto Dravis' ear, who crying because of want of food.

**_"You fool!" _**the Bakeneko screeched. **_"I will rip you apart unless you date me, right here and right now!"_**

"Oh, Gods above..." I groaned, pulling out my sword. "Why didn't I pick more normal girls to have sex with?"

"Punishment!" Dravis shouted, not missing a beat.

"You're stupid!" Larka also shouted, not missing a beat.

Yuuki didn't say anything.

The Bakeneko lunged at me, and managed to deflect it, bringing out a cheer from Larka, who knew I was learning all of this stuff. The Bakeneko, however, didn't seem pleased with this, removed its claws from being intertwined with my sword and swiped at me again. I jumped away, feeling freaked out.

If we flash back to a few seconds ago, maybe a minute ago, she was telling me how much she loved me. Now she was trying to kill me. What's with girls and their mood swings?!

Come to think of it, why wasn't Larka or Yuuki or Dravis (okay, never mind about Dravis...) helping me?! I was getting attacked by a demon-cat-ghost-girl-thing and they were just sitting around, watching me! Maybe they thought I could handle it or something. I wished I was wimpier. Wow. Strange thought, no? Now that I was stronger, I wanted to be wimpier...

She managed to back me up into a tree and continued attacking me. I missed dodging/deflecting one of the blows and it sliced through my shirt and my skin. I muttered a swear word as I slammed the flat part of my blade against her head, smashing her about three meters away from me.

"Ow, ow, ow..." I managed, touching my side where blood was beginning to flow from. "That freaking hurt."

"You're getting about a seventy-eight for effort so far on this test!" Larka shouted. "Stop screwing around because your grade is going down with every passing second and if you fail this test, then I'm gonna make training one-hundred times harder for you! Now kill her!"

Oh. So this was a test for Larka, huh? Crap. I'd have to win or face her wrath.

"I love you, Jin! Do your best!" Yuuki cried, being my sweet little cheerleader. Aw, she was so sweet.

Dravis flipped me off. Not nice.

The Bakeneko had gotten up and seemed punch drunk, staggering around a bit. There was some wetness in her hair that shone red, so, and I was just guessing here, but she was bleeding a bit. She glared at me, growling and baring her fangs.

Once again, throwing herself at me, I slammed the flat side of my blade against her body, this time against her arm. I didn't really want to slice anyone up into pieces, no matter how much she wanted to rip me apart. However, as I felt my skin ripping again, I realized that I might not have a choice soon.

_**"What's wrong?!" **_the Bakeneko demanded, giving some demonic laughter. _**"Unable to beat a little girl?!"**_

"More like a female dog," I muttered, getting in position again, know she would throw herself at me again, somehow.

She jumped up from above this time, kicking me in the face before I really knew what was going on. As she landed lightly behind me, I turned quickly with sword out far from my body and finally used the sharp end against her. It lodged itself into her waist and blood spurted out. I felt disgusted and quickly pulled my sword out, which didn't help, instead making more blood fly out.

I tasted some blood myself, although none had spilled on to me, so I guessed that I had gotten a bloody nose from her kick to my face. I rubbed it and winced, feeling pain signals send themselves to my brain. This was turning into quite a demented battle.

The girl turned to me, not really caring that there was a gaping hole in her side and that the blood from her head wound was beginning to stain her kimono. Her eyes were bright red at this point and her fangs seemed much longer than usual. I was guessing that she was seriously pissed now that I was killing her. Eek. Bad/weird thought.

"She's being controlled, Jin!" Yuuki cried from the side. "By Lee! I can tell! You won't be able to save her, so you'd better just kill her!"

Easier said than done.

"Seventy-three!" Larka shouted.

Easier done than said. For the sake of my life, I'd better kill her.

Her blows seemed lots faster than before and I was barely able to block the hits. I was getting hit more often, but I found myself thinking less about the pain and more about the pain that I needed to give her. I was starting to get obsessed with the idea of causing this girl pain, with making her bleed.

I cut off one of her arms, which helped me block a bit better but got me covered in more blood. I didn't dare open my mouth by this point because I would be drowning in blood, both hers and my own. This was getting to be quite gory and demented, and I found myself wishing that Yuuki wouldn't watch.

Quite suddenly, I realized how tired I was. There was no strength left in me after all of this fighting. There was only so much that my human body could take, and I had been pushing it pretty far over the past few weeks, fighting constantly with Larka and practicing my powers, trying to gain control... this was the final step.

I fell to my knees, taking in deep breaths and tasting my own blood. I glanced over to Larka, who seemed to be somewhat shocked. I gave a weak smile before falling over, feeling tunnel-vision beginning. The last thing I remember seeing was two feet, Yuuki's, I think, walking over to the Bakeneko's.

Well, I failed the test.

* * *

I opened my eyes and saw the sky, which was a light purple, indicating that the sun had set a little while ago. Slight chills grabbed me, and, as I tried to move, I felt my body being extremely uncooperative. Pain sapped my strength and I fell back down, taking in deep breaths and forcing the tears back into my eyes.

"You're awake," I heard Yuuki's soft voice say. I glanced over to her and saw that she was pulling some sort of ointment out of her bag. I wondered how much stuff she could keep in there, but stopped as soon as I felt a headache coming on.

"Nn," I answered, trying not to move.

"You passed out and we took care of the demon for you," she said, kneeling down next to me. This was about the moment that I realized I wasn't wearing a shirt, which usually would have made me turn bright red, but, due to what was going on right now, didn't since this was more medical than sexual. "I've been dressing your wounds since about two hours ago. Your body was extremely exhausted, so we're thinking about just letting you sleep tomorrow. You've been working yourself too hard."

I winced as I felt her fingers gently brush the ointment over one of my wounds. As I glanced around, I noticed the fact that Larka and Dravis weren't around. I couldn't help but wonder where they were, but chose not to say anything due to the fact that it would hurt more to talk than it did to think.

"Please... be more careful next time," Yuuki said softly, staring hard at the wound she was dressing. "I don't want you getting hurt..."

I blinked and gave a weak smile to her. She was really too nice to me. I was happy that she was worried about me. This girl who was, although sometimes annoying because she whined, really sweet and beautiful cared about me so much. I was happy.

"Hey, looks like someone is awake," I heard Larka say. "Sorry, Dravis and I were talking in private..."

"And by talking she means kissing," Yuuki said. "And before you try to deny it, I happened to catch a glimpse of you so there's no point."

"Sh- shut up, dork!" Larka cried.

"Why are you embarrassed?" Dravis asked. "We never get any alone time any more. It's nice to make out once in a while."

"Dravis, you're not helping!" Larka shouted.

I gave a weak laugh, then stopped, being that it kind of hurt a lot. Larka seemed somewhat concerned at this and gently touched my forehead.

"You're kind of hot," Larka said softly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No..." I mumbled. "Your fault..."

"Sorry, I didn't think she'd be quite that powerful," Larka said, sighing. "She's just a Bakeneko so I didn't think she'd have that much power... or that she would be controlled by Lee. I wouldn't have not helped if I had known that she was controlled by Lee."

I sighed, starting to feel tired. "Don't... be... sad..."

I think I fainted again, because I don't remember anything after that. Dang it.

**A/N- Review if you'd like. :)**


	29. Entering the City Takes Too Long

**A/N- Thanks so much for the reviews, Catorrina, rexy-plexy95, and ZAP IS ZAK! It makes me happy when you review.  
**

**Disclaimer: Wait, what?! I don't own Okami?! Are you kidding me?! But I've got rights and everything... oh, wait, no I don't.**

Do you remember when I said that we would come into the city bloodied with demon guts and that it would be raining and it was lighteningy and all of that crap? Do you remember how I said that? No? Go look at the last chapter if you forgot. If you didn't, please ignore this. Like, what I'm saying right now.

Anyway. Yeah, I was being sarcastic. I didn't think that we'd actually go to the city being this gross and wet. I probably looked the most epic as we walked into town because my shirt was off because it had gotten pretty badly ruined. Well, while my shirt was off and all, I only had bandages and such covering my body. And, with Larka's training, I had gotten a formidable six-pack.

OH, YEAH, BRINGIN' SEXY BACK. Or not.

Yuuki, while my shirt was currently off, kept her eyes firmly forward. Her cheeks were rather rosy, though, which made me smirk. It was kind of funny that she got embarrassed because I was displaying my body since I had no shirt. Ha. I have to be somewhat hot if I attract this many girls, Larka! Darn you, half-sister of mine!

"Hey, Jin, you know I was talking to you, right?" Larka asked. I blankly glanced at her. Dang it. Need to make these openings shorter because I keep forgetting what's going on right now instead of focusing on the past and... well, you get the point.

"Yeah, I didn't think that you were paying attention anyway," she said, waving it off. "You were probably more focused on something less important than what I have to say, like your muscles or Yuuki's breasts or something." Dang it. She hit the mark. Both times. Shut up, I like being a pervert!

"Stop staring, idiot!" Yuuki squeaked, her face burning as she covered her chest with her arms. All that really did was force them together more, though, which forced more perverted thoughts to enter my mind.

"Not helping," I stated, staring even more.

Larka, at that point, helped me by punching me on the arm. I grabbed my arm, pouting, and rubbed it. She gave me a lecture that is much too boring (violent, really, but what's the real difference with this chick?) to go into at the moment. Maybe later.

"Anyway, I need to talk to you about the people at the palace," Larka finally said after I gained about fifteen bruises on my right arm which was closest to her. "They are stuffy, stupid, near-sighted, love flattery, and hate to be called wrong. They are immature brats. The princess is okay, but she's super-mild so she just goes with what everyone else says. You need to be a humble peasant before them."

Okay. Confusion.

"Aren't we gods? Shouldn't they be humble peasants before us?" I asked, frowning.

"You'd think. Last time I went there and tried that, though, I pretty much was screwed and they kicked me out of the palace against my will. The king, though, was very nice and told those people to go burn in hell for all time for upsetting the great Goddess of the Moon," Larka stated. "Then he had each of their tongues cut out."

"Okay, he seems... eccentric," I said, frowning slightly.

"Are you kidding me?! It was epic!" Larka cried, grinning wildly at the thought of people's tongues being cut out. "Divine retribution wouldn't have been nearly as fun as what this guy did! He was such a win! If there was any king that I was have rule the world, it would be him."

"He did rock," Dravis agreed. "Sucked when he was killed."

"Yeah, that did suck," she agreed.

As the two went on about the horrendous acts that said king did, I felt somewhat left out. Had I known this man? Were we friends? I knew nothing about my past besides the fact that I loved Yuuki very much in the past and the fact that I was a pervert. What other connections did I have to people? Did I have other friends besides that pot-bellied freak, Susano? Jeez.

A hand slipped into my own and I glanced over to Yuuki, who was staring at her other hand while holding onto my left. I gripped her hand and stared at her hand as well. It was small. Much smaller than mine or Larka's. Maybe not Dravis', though. He had girlie hands.

"Jin..." she began hesitantly.

"Hm?"

"Well... it's just... I really do love you. No matter what."

I felt my face burn up slightly. Again, I couldn't help but wonder how such a beautiful young lady had fallen for a dork like me. And I'm not just talking outer beauty, I'm talking about inner beauty as well. She had gotten much more beautiful inside since I had first met her. I felt happy.

"I love you, too," I replied softly.

She smiled warmly up at me and touched my cheek with her hand that wasn't holding my own. I felt my face continue warming up, but... but it was a good kind. I was feeling absurdly happy, once again.

"Okay, just because Dravis and I are talking and stuff, that doesn't mean you two can go off in lovey-dovey land," Larka said, making us both jump back from each other. "I mean, yeah, I know you two are in love and all that crap, but that doesn't mean that you have to be so dorky and look at each other like you're lovesick puppies or whatever."

I felt my face burning up in a bad way. "Larka! Shut up! I'm your older brother, so do what I say!"

She laughed out, "A- as if! You... you dork-wad! No way!"

Annoyance grabbed me and I was about to retort rudely when a small voice cleared her voice to the left. I glanced over and blinked as I saw a girl standing there. She was tall, but not nearly as tall as me. Her black hair was in a braid down her back and she was wearing a fancy-schmancy kimono. She held a parasol over her head as she looked at us.

"Oh, Megumi-hime," Larka said, blinking. "What're you doing here?"

Hime? Didn't that mean, like, princess? Huh. That's funny.

Oh. Wait a minute.

"Ah, I heard you were coming," she said, her voice very soft. "I... I wanted to come see you and welcome you formally before the lords could come along and spread some... misfortune your way. A... also, I wanted to meet the famous Kouin-sama."

"He's got a girlfriend," Yuuki said shortly.

"I- I didn't mean like that!" Megumi-hime said quickly, blushing. "I just... I wanted to meet him since I have heard so much about him!"

"Good or bad?" I asked.

"Both," she replied shyly, looking down at the ground.

"All right, then," I answered.

So far, my impression of her was a pretty good one. She wasn't a complete jerk, she didn't want to hurt me, and she wasn't an ex-girlfriend. For me, that was the best impression I had had of a girl since I was in the present/future/whatever. Most girls here were insane. Beautiful, but still insane.

"So, Megumi-hime, ready to go back to the palace? You had to have snuck out because I don't sense any bodyguards," Larka stated. "It was nice of you to come out here to meet up with us, though, being that you're a dainty little cream-puff-princess and all."

I frowned at the fourteen-year-old. "What's that supposed to mean? She's the most normal person I've met so far. Don't call her cream-puff-princess."

"I- it's fine, that just how Larka-sama shows her affection," Megumi-hime quickly said. "I take no offense."

"Wow, maybe you do love me if that's how you show affection," I said, giving my half-sister a frowny look. She kicked me in the shin, making me shut up. Ah, yes, brother-sister love.

"Fffff," was all Dravis said as Larka cleared her throat to start talking again. She didn't seem to care. DANG IT. She would've whacked me upside the head if it had been me that had done that. What's the difference between me and him besides height and what type of relationship we have with Larka?!

Anyway. Not important.

"We'd better get you back to the palace, Megumi-hime," Larka stated, folding her arms. "Or people are gonna get pissy and start throwing a fit."

Megumi-hime nodded, looking at her feet as though somewhat ashamed that she had sneaked away. I thought that, despite me having a girlfriend and all, she was a really cute girl. She was super-shy and stuff. What was the "Otaku Terminology" for this? Moe? Something like that.

No crush on her though. Just cute. I love my Yuuki.

"So, we goin' to the palace?" Dravis asked. "Will there be food?"

Megumi-hime seemed hesitant to answer. "Since you two have been gone... well, the government has changed a bit. A small group of men are trying their best to put me out of power and make King Lee the Emperor of Nippon. It's... hard to fight them..."

Larka frowned, and glanced at me. Yeah, this wasn't good. Would we have to go into battle-epic-awesome-mode? I already felt my fingers itching to pull out my swords and cut of some heads. I've gotten somewhat violent thanks to Larka, yes. I will blame her for all of my sins. Wait. Do gods sin? Oh, whatever.

"No," Larka said flatly.

"Eh?" I asked.

"I read thoughts, remember? And you are not allowed to go into battle again until you're completely healed up. The last time that we had you fight, remember what happened? It was only two days ago, Jin. We didn't even really want you to be walking around. I won't allow you to go into battle again because I don't want you dying," Larka said, folding her arms

I sighed. She was probably right, there. I had to be careful about my body, because it was human body that was trying to deal with godly problems. If I wasn't careful and didn't get enough energy or rest, then I could probably die.

"What happened to Kouin-sama?" Megumi-hime asked, sounding concerned. "Is he alright?"

"He hasn't been very nice to his human body," Yuuki said, gently touching my arm. "After we take care of this, we need to get to Jin's temple because his current body can't deal with what's going on and all of the powers that are inside of him... it's difficult to explain."

I nodded, looking down. "Yeah."

"Oh, oh dear," Megumi-hime whispered. "That's no good. And I need your help so badly right now..."

Yeah, so, this was one of those things where you felt split in two. This adorably sad and shy girl needed my help so badly because otherwise Nippon's government would fall apart. On the other hand, however, I didn't really want to die right now, and that was the consequence (most likely) of me helping her. Jeez... this was cruel.

_Why don't you let me help? _

The voice caught me off guard. It was...

_Mom? _

_This is no time for that, Kouin, I'll come over there soon and help you out. Do try not to be too terribly stupid within that time. _

_Wait, I-_

Her presence was gone before I could finish my reply. Her hasty words made me think that she wasn't exactly excited about the thought that I knew that we were related, now. Either that, or she was scared of what I thought. Kind of bad/annoying. I wanted to ask her so many things...

"Larka, guess who just spoke in my mind," I said, folding my arms.

"What did Mom say?" she demanded.

"She said she was coming, and she asked me not to be too terribly stupid," I replied. "Which kind of annoys me, to be honest."

"Coming?" Larka asked, sounding somewhat shocked.

"What is going on?" Megumi-hime asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Larka assured the confused princess. "It's just... I'm probably gonna see my mom today after a really, really long time. I'm not sure I'm ready for that."

I glanced over to Dravis, who had suddenly looked down. He glanced up to meet my eyes for all of a half of a second, and I saw... discomfort? Annoyance? Maybe fear? Something along those lines. I was about to ask him why, when we Yuuki started speaking, which, of course, caught my attention.

"Do you mind if we talk about this inside? It's kind of cold out here..." She was rubbing her arms, and I noticed for the first time that it was really cold. Funny I didn't notice that before.

"Oh, right, that's not good for Jin," Larka said, instantly making me feel good that she was worrying about me, unlike usual. "Don't want the dork dying." Warm fuzzies are now gone.

"Let's get going, then," Dravis said before muttering something to Larka, whose eyes widened. She glanced over her shoulder before turning to me, her eyes hard. They said something along the lines of, "We need to move unless you want to die." I took the hint and took Yuuki's hand, gently pulling her along as Megumi-hime starting walking in front of us.

"So, what's up?" I asked, trying to make myself sound casual.

"Later," Larka replied.

"What?" Yuuki asked, sounding confused.

It was starting to feel like someone was following us. I swore that I could hear footsteps, but every time that I turned around to look, nobody was there. I'm not saying this so creep the pee out of you or anything, but it was starting to bother me. Felt like a horror story or something. Then the giant fist came up and crushed the stupid, favorite character...!

Oh, FU- That's me! Don't kill me, O Horror Author!

Luckily for me, instead of just freaking killing me, the author decided to make the evil guy suddenly appear in front of us. He had a large sword and cruel smile on his face. I had no idea who the piss this guy was, but he scared the piss out of me. The way he looked at us... it was like he wanted to freaking murder us, gouge out our eyeballs and intestines, put them in a soup, then drink it with our blood in a crystal cock-tail cup and a side of fingers, toes, ears, and our noses with boogers still inside.

Graphic, but true.

"Ready to go to Hell?" he asked, like he was asking what the weather was. "I can take you there, if you like. I'm sure my little Dravis would like to come home with his daddy..."

Daddy?? Dravis?? This freako was Dravis' dad?? Holy... I'm running out of non-swearing swear words. Holy orchids. No, that doesn't sound right...

Oh, getting off topic.

"Bane," Larka said coolly. "What do you want?"

Bane, and I'm just guessing here that that was his name, got a pained look on his face. "Didn't I... didn't I just explain that? I'm gonna kill you. Bring you to Hell. All that shit. Are you even listening to me?"

"Oh, yeah, you did, you-" Annnnd, I'm taking out the rest because of the fun little words that Dravis said because some of those things aren't appropriate for T fanfiction. Or even rated M fanfiction, to a certain point. Oh, the dirty mouth of this demon-boy.

"Thanks for the respect. Can I kill you now?" he asked.

This was worrisome. If we were to get into a fight, then Larka would have to protect me, save me from death, all that crap. It would be bad to get into a fight. I glanced over to Larka, who was already coming up with a plan by the look on her face. Which, quite honestly, relieved me. I didn't want to have to come up with a plan.

She mouthed to me that she had a plan, which made me sigh. Meanwhile, Bane was looking between us in confusion.

"What the f***?" he asked.

"Did you know your tie is crooked?" Larka asked.

"W- wha?" he asked, sounding even more confused.

"It's true, look at it," Larka said, pointing to him.

"I'm not wearing a tie, you smart-buttocks," Bane replied snobbishly. Of course, he didn't really say buttocks, but, whatever. I change things as I see fit.

"Shh, don't tell the octopus," Larka replied, raising one eyebrow while bringing a finger to my lip.

Her randomness seemed to be working rather well. Bane was totally confused by her strangeness, and as was I. Of course, I knew the plan, so that didn't matter. Anyway, it was a good plan, even if it was rather odd. Then again... what happened next?

The gods answered me. Literally.

I've told you Amaterasu is very beautiful? Well, it's interesting that she's amazingly beautiful even when she's falling from the sky to karate-chop Bane back to where he came from. If you can picture such a thing. Even though I was the one who happened to be seeing it, I still couldn't believe it. After karate-chopping Bane into the earth about a dozen meters, she snapped her fingers and he was gone.

"Whoa," I said.

Amaterasu blinked as she saw us. "Oh. Right, you're still here."

Her words were much less formal and archaic than before. It was weird, though, because she had the air of being extremely important and beautiful, yet she was talking with a bit of an Osaka accent, unlike her usual, formal, regular Tokyo accent. **(Osaka accent... it's like having a New York accent or a Southern accent. Different dialect, same language, different ways of saying stuff)**

"Uh, yo," I replied.

"Don't say 'yo' to your mom who just happened to save your life!" Larka snapped, hitting me, then apologizing afterwords because she had reopened my side-wound. "Plus, plus, plus, she's a goddess, Jin. So- so- so, um..."

It suddenly occurred to me that she was nervous. She had only met her mom twice: when she was born, and right before I met her. Once again, guilt because eating away at me for stealing our mother from Larka. Why couldn't I have shared her? I felt bad for my half-sister.

"A- A- A- Amaterasu-sama!" Megumi-hime cried, suddenly falling to her knees and bowing to the beautiful in front of the goddess. "I'm so sorry for being unprepared to meet you!"

"Oh, yeah, sure, no problem," Amaterasu replied, brushing it off. "No worries, okay?"

The woman then turned to us. I felt like her eyes were piercing into my heart. Her eyes, after meeting my own, went over to Larka's, meeting her's as well. Larka drew in a breath and I could see her start playing with her hair, obviously trying to clean herself up a bit. She was worried about her appearance. Huh.

"Come on, Larka," Amaterasu said, holding open her arms. "I've missed you."

Larka seemed stunned, but walked over numbly and wrapped her arms around her mother's waist. I could see, though, before she buried her head in her mom's chest, tears beginning to flow. For some reason, that made me give a slight, warm smile. Larka had really missed her mom. Our mom.

You know, I refer to her as "Amaterasu," right? Well, it suddenly occurred to me that maybe, since she was my mom, I should call her "Mom." I mean, yeah, I don't know her that well, but she is still my mom. I probably ought to.

"This is nice," Yuuki said softly, making jump slightly. I had almost forgotten that she was holding my hand because she had been so quiet.

"Yeah..." I answered softly, looking down. "It is."

Ama- Mom let go of Larka, giving her a firm smile. "Now, now, I know we haven't seen each other in a long, long time, but there's no reason to cry. You're my strong little girl. You've been through a lotta stuff, I know, but I want you to be smiley for now. Whack some heads for me, yeah?"

Larka nodded, wiping away her tears. "Mm'kay..."

Am- Mom gently let go of her daughter, giving her a sunny (ha ha, bad joke) smile. "My little Larka... you're such a strong, good girl. I'm so glad that I finally get to talk to you after all of this time. I really missed you. I hope that we can stay together for a while more."

"Right!" Larka's smile made me feel one hundred times better. She was one of those people that could make you feel absurdly depressed or absurdly happy. A slightly odd thing, but perfectly true.

Amatera- Mom's eyes met my own and I sucked in a breath. She knew that I knew that we were mother and son. She knew that I was confused about a lot of stuff. She knew that there was a whole lot that she could do to make me feel better. What she didn't know was that it made me feel better just to know that she was my mother and that she loved me.

"Hello... Kouin," Mom said softly, looking at me.

"Hi... Mom..." I managed out.

Oh boy. This was gonna be dramatic/awkward/touching/interesting, wasn't it?

**A/N- Next time, we'll get into details on tons of other things! Like politics and Amaterasu and... STUFF... lol I'm pretty sure I have more than 100,000 words now! Squeee!  
**


	30. Prince Shinya is a PoopyButt

**A/N- Well, this sucks. D: I had it half-way done when fanfiction COMPLETELY erased ALL of my documents... I feel like cursing, but, sadly, I'm a curse-free girl. For the most part. I only curse in this story... I don't curse in real life. Anyway.**

**Disclaimer- I almost forgot this. I own nothing besides my characters~!  
**

Have you ever had a moment when you just met your real mom who happens to be a goddess who also didn't tell you that she was your mom and now you know and all you can really do is stare at her and there's an awkward silence and everyone in your group is looking between you two, trying to figure out what you two are doing? No?

Well, that's what was going on with me, anyway. My mother was standing there in front of me, her eyes flickering as they looked into my own. I really wanted to run away from those fiery and wild eyes that said so much that I was going deaf. Or blind. Something like that. I was trying to be poetic, okay?

I was personally freaking out in my mind when Megumi-hime said, "Um, aren't you all getting wet? Shouldn't we get to the castle?"

"Probably," Amater- Mom said calmly, not moving a muscle.

Sooooo, what? Were we going to have a stare-off or something? I decided, at that point, to turn to Megumi-hime.

"Yeah, let's go! I'm tired of being in this cold and wet weather! Plus, it's bad for me to get sick right now when I'm all hurty and crap," I said.

"Are you sure?" Mom asked.

"Yeah."

"I wanted to talk with you a bit, Kouin."

"No thanks!"

"Kouin..."

I felt chills run up and down my back as I heard her say this. She had the same "Don't-you-screw-around-with-me-young-man" tone as Larka. That, of course, made me want to run from her even more than before. However, my body was unable to move.

"If you move so much as a muscle, Kouin, I'll snap your arm in half," Amaterasu (dang it, I screwed up) said, walking over to me. "The rest of you can leave."

"But... but..." Larka said, seeming somewhat hesitant.

"It's fine, Larka. I can take care of him," Mom said.

"I'll take you to the castle, then," Megumi-hime said. "I don't want you guys getting colds... and we probably shouldn't upset the Goddess of the Sun when she looks pissed enough as it is."

Ha. Pissed. Sorry, it sounded funny coming out of such a sweet-voiced girl.

Anyway, I had something much more pressing on my hands. This woman who was looking at me with those golden eyes... those piercing, golden eyes that made me want to run away, screaming at the top of my lungs. I tried to break eye contact, but something about her eyes kept pulling me back in, much to my discomfort.

"Be careful," Yuuki said, breaking me free of the curse by kissing my cheek. I instantly slapped a hand over where she had kissed, feeling like an idiot.

Larka, as a way of saying good bye, punched my arm that was rubbing my cheek stupidly. I dropped it sheepishly, feeling embarrassed.

Soon, it was just me, Mom, and the rain. I stared at the ground, biting my bottom lip. Weren't these sorts of situations supposed to be heart-warming and crap like that? No, it really just felt awkward... I didn't want to be here, and neither did she. But we had to get this out at some point.

Why wasn't she saying anything? She had to say something, otherwise this was pointless. I was at a loss for words and, for once, I couldn't come up with any of the millions of questions that usually floated around in my head. I was absolutely lost.

"I didn't think you'd believe me," Mom said, interrupting my thoughts. "I mean, how am I supposed to tell you that you're a god and my son?"

"Uh, yeah," I mumbled.

"Larka never knew that you two were siblings until before this mission... she thought that you were another one of my secret... toys or something. After all, you had... a repuatation of sorts, and as did I," Mom said. "I didn't want her to know that I had loved anyone besides her father."

"I... I can see that," I managed.

"Honestly, I'm not sure where to start with all of this," Mom admitted. "Why don't you ask questions and I'll do my best to answer them?"

"Is Oki really my dad?" I asked.

"Yes, he is..." she said softly. "I had other things to attend to, though, so I left him before either of us knew about the pregnancy. I had no idea how in the world to tell him that I had given birth to his son... I still haven't told him either, although I suspect that he might know that I had a child with him."

"Why did I chose to be in this stupid human body when I could've kept as a god?" I asked.

"Well... to be honest, there are a lot of rumors, but you only ever told one person. I'm guessing that it was because you were terrified of battling Lee. You ran away for a while, about five years or so, hiding out with Yuuki and her family. After realizing you couldn't hide in this time period, you ran away to a different time and... well, I don't know how you got in this form, actually."

I frowned, trying not to be annoyed at myself. A pedophile, a pervert, and a coward? I was way worse in the past than I was now.

"Kouin... I... I wanted to let you know that I'm happy that you're my son," Mom said. "I'm really happy that you know, now."

That warmed my heart. Sort of. More my face. "Um, gee, thanks, Mom..."

"You're blushing."

"Am not!"

"Wonder why you're face is red then."

"..."

Mom smiled at me, then suddenly frowned with a serious look on her face. "Kouin, there's something important I need to tell you."

"What?" I asked.

"You remember your friend Miuri, yes? And Ai?"

"Yes..." I replied nervously.

"They're staying at my temple and will be moving along soon to find you. I'd suggest that you meet at the new D. A. K. L. S. headquarters, which is just about fifty kil-"

"THEY... THEY'RE COMING? HERE?"

"Er, yes?"

"HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP, WHY DIDN'T YA MENTION THAT BEFORE, MOM!"

"Because I wanted to talk to you about you and I..."

"THIS IS EXTREMEEEELLYYYYY IMPORTANT!"

"STOP SCREAMING, KOUIN!"

I stopped screaming.

"Now, would you like me to pass the message along to them, later?" Mom asked, regaining her calmness.

"Yes," I said simply.

"All right, I'll do that later, then. I'd like to spend a day or so with my kids, first, though."

A sudden thought occured to me. "Hey, Mom, do I have any more siblings?"

"No," she replied.

"No other family members I ought to know about?"

"Well... there is Aiyoku..."

"Aiyoku?"

"Yeah, she's a freak and is your cousin or something. I don't remember, really. Anyway, she loves incest a bit too much. You had sex with her a lot."

"Eewwwwww. I didn't need to know that."

"Just letting you know."

"Ew again."

* * *

Yuuki walked into the palace, sighing. "This is the kind of place I want to live in. It's so..."

"Stupid?" Larka suggested.

Yuuki frowned. "I was going to say regal."

A young and handsome blond-haired man began walking down the hallway to meet them, following by a whole bunch of other people. They all wore extremely fancy clothes that probably cost each of them a small fortune. However, Yuuki would have died just to have one of the outfits one of the women were wearing.

"Princesssss, you're back," the blond exclaimed. "And you brought company... great..."

He didn't sound super-enthusiastic as he looked at Dravis and Larka, but, as his eyes found Yuuki, they lit up and he said great again, this time with an exclamation mark at the end instead of those three dots, whatever they're called. Anyway, this made Yuuki feel somewhat uncomfortable, especially after feeling Larka's cold glare.

"This... this is Larka, Goddess of the Moon, and her boyfriend Dravis, and this Yuuki..." Megumi-hime said in a very soft tone. "You guys, this is Prince Shinya, from the moon."

"So, you must be the one I worship the most. I'm sorry for being rude before," Prince Shinya said graciously and with a somewhat false voice.

"You must be the kiss-up who likes to be with married women I've heard so much about," Larka said back coolly. "The one who probably ought not to be looking at Yuuki like that, considering the fact that she's taken and probably doesn't want to be bothered by a man who is supposed to be getting married to a girl who happens to be in the room."

Megumi-hime looked down, her eyes slightly glazed over. Yuuki instantly felt bad for the poor girl. Having to marry a jerk... she was the princess, but marrying someone who would doubtlessly cheat on her within the first week of their marriage was really terrible.

"Who said anything about me wanting to be with Yuuki?" Prince Shinya asked calmly.

"The fact that you keep glancin' at her melons," Dravis said, making Yuuki turn bright red.

"The man who took her is a lucky guy," Prince Shinya said while chuckling.

Yuuki, feeling that it would absolutely proper at this point and time, punched Prince Shinya. Right on the kisser. It would probably lead him to having purple lips later on. Larka and Dravis both seemed slightly surprised at this, but Megumi-hime and the others just seemed horrified.

"Dumbass, what're you going after me for?" she snapped. "I'm taken, and you've got a perfectly pretty girl who will be your wife! Screw you!"

With that said, Yuuki stomped past the confused young man and down the hall. Larka and Dravis followed her. Larka patted Yuuki's shoulder with a wide grin on her face. "That was an epic move, Yuu! Shows him who's boss, yeah, yeah? Punch people more often!"

"I might have to," Yuuki muttered. "If people keep pissin' me off or making fun of my breasts. Speaking of which..." Yuuki then slammed her fist into Dravis' arm, who winced but didn't show much else. "I'm not as mad at you because you were protecting me, but don't call my breasts 'melons' again or I'll murder you!"

"I love this pissy Yuuki," Larka gloated.

"I don't," Dravis muttered, rubbing his arm.

"Idiot," Yuuki stated.

"So, what're we gonna do now, O Wise Ruler?" Dravis asked somewhat sarcastically.

Yuuki turned to them, stopping. "I have no idea, and I'm not the ruler. If I was, we'd be dead. Larka, what's the plan?"

"Well, it _was _to get Prince Shinya on our side, but your punch is so much more epic than his Moon Warriors. Like, holy shit, that was epic."

"You guys are complaining about me cussing and you're cussing a ton!" Dravis complained.

Both girls ignored him.

"So what do we do, then?" Yuuki asked.

"If you made out with him, he'd probably accept it as an apology," Larka said.

"Um, ew. That's kind of really gross," Yuuki said.

"But absolutely true," Larka replied. "I'm not sure how we're gonna get this guy on our side, and we might need your... body, I suppose."

"I'm a virgin!" Yuuki squealed.

"Nobody said you had to go all the way. But kissing, touching... things like that," Larka said calmly.

"No, no, no! Nobody touches me! Not even Jin!" Yuuki cried, covering her breasts with her arms. "I want to be touched for the first time after I get married!"

"It's a suggestion, calm down, woman," Larka said.

Yuuki pouted at the other girl. "Don't come up with more like that!"

"I could try making him succumb to my Moon Goddess powers, or whatever. I'm not sure how well that would work, but, heck, I could give it a shot."

"I'm much more for that idea."

"He's a very puffed-up and prideful dude, though, so no promises."

"As long as I'm not doing anything pervy."

"That's what you get for being in an ecchi story." **(Ecchi is an anime term for perverted stuff. This story is rather ecchi, yes, but not too ecchi. It just talks about sexual stuph a lot.)**

"What?"

"Never mind."

* * *

Going inside the castle with Mom, the first thing I saw was people running around a yellow-haired guy, freaking out about his lips, which seemed to be quickly turning purple. Nobody seemed to notice either of us because they were too busy freaking out over him since his lips were turning purple. Obviously. I just said that. Dang it.

"Wonder what's going on," I said.

"Dunno," Mom replied.

A woman noticed us and squeaked, her face turning red. She got on her knees, bowing to us and muttering her apologies and about how we were gods or something. She was speaking into the floor so I couldn't really understand her very well.

Other people seemed to notice us and fall to the ground as well. I watched them, slightly confused. In the end, the guy with the purple lips was the only one that was left standing, and he was giving me one ferocious glare, as though it was my fault that I was a god and nobody was paying attention to him anymore.

"Arise," Mom said.

The people arose.

"Go about your regular chores. This boy will be fine."

They left to go about their regular chores, being that the boy would be fine.

Wait, why am I repeating everything I already said? That's stupid.

The boy was glaring at us both, obviously not giving a crap that we were both gods. Mom walked over to up and, with an extremely calm look on her face, flicked his forehead. He cried out in pain, grabbing his head as though he was going to die. Jeez. And I thought I was wimpy.

"Dipwad," Mom said.

"That's no way to treat a prince!" the prince cried tearfully.

"That's no way to treat a god!" Mom mimicked snobbishly.

I couldn't help but give an awkward grin. My mother was slightly odd.

"Now, where's my daughter and her friends?" Mom asked.

"I don't know!" he snapped.

"Another flick to your forehead if you tell not," Mom said.

"They went down that hall," he said, pointing.

"Thank you, your Highness," she said sarcastically.

I followed her as we walked down the hall, occasionally glancing back to the whimpering young man that was down on the ground. He was a prince, right? I couldn't help but wonder what in the heck he was the prince of, then. He didn't act very princely.

"Who was that dude?" I asked.

"Prince Shinya of the Moon. He's an idiot who is engaged to Megumi-hime... poor girl," Mom said.

I winced in sympathy. "Poor girl."

"Seriously. He's so annoying... he's really perverted as well. I'm betting one thousand yen that Yuuki was the one that punched him."

"I hope she did."

We came around the corner and saw the three other people that were in our group, plus Megumi-hime, who seemed to be freaking out over something. Yuuki had an angry look on her face, Larka seemed to be ready to knock Yuuki out, and Dravis was eating a rice ball that he had been hiding.

"NO WAY, NO WAY, NO WAYYYY!" Yuuki screeched at the top of lungs, promptly breaking my eardrums. "NEVER!"

"I- I'm sorry, he won't listen to anyone unless-" Megumi-hime began, tears in her eyes.

"THEN HE CAN GO TO HE-" Yuuki began, but Larka hit her.

"Shut up! There's nothing we can do about it!"

"Um, hi," I said.

"Jiiiiiiin!" Yuuki cried, now having tears in her eyes as she rushed over and hug-attacked me. "No, no, no, no! I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to!"

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Prince Shinya doesn't listen to anyone but his sexual appetite, so, unless we feed it, then we're not getting any of his super-famous Moon Soldiers," Larka said dryly.

It took me less than a second to figure out what she meant...

**_AND I WASN'T HAPPY._**

**A/N- Jin is happay. Or something. I'm so proud of myself for finishing this chappy. Maybe I could finish another soon. Eventually. Whatev.****_  
_**


End file.
